The Last Prom King
by Pegelia Von Borrador
Summary: [Modern AU] It's a whole new world when homeschooled Aang enters high school for the first time, but he quickly discovers that bully Ozai's reign as Prom King has gone on for far too long. So he and his ragtag group of friends – a beautiful art student, a varsity jokester, a rich runaway, and one of Ozai's own best friends – must restore balance to Four Nations High! [Kataang]
1. The Boy in the Prius

**Chapter One - The Boy in the Prius**

* * *

On my first day of high school, after staying up half the night worrying, I was woken up at the break of dawn by my dog.

"Appa!" I said, trying to push away his big slimy face. He jumped up on the bed and wagged his tail so hard his butt shook. "I'm trying to get some sleep!"

My cat, Momo, jumped up after him. He was nicer than most cats, and he purred and snuggled around my face before coming to rest beside me. Appa, however, was not having it. His face clearly said, 'I must pee now or I will literally explode."

I groaned. "Okay, fine." I dragged myself out of bed in my boxers and t-shirt and headed out to the backyard. Even though it was barely five in the morning, my grandfather, Gyatso, was already sitting outside, meditating.

"Good morning, Aang," he said without opening his eyes.

"Good morning, Grandpa," I said, watching Appa run off to do his business.

"Are you excited for your first day of school?"

I sighed. "I'm nervous. What if kids don't like me?"

"There will be some who tease or bully you because of who you are. But you must stay true to your heritage."

I sighed. My grandfather was a practicing Buddhist, and sometimes his manner of speech was too much to handle. But this time, he did have a point.

Today was my first day of sophomore year at the prestigious Four Nations High. The goal of this high school was to represent each of the four districts in our small country and foster a sense of multiculturalism. But ever since the genocide of my people, the men and women of the Air District, Grandfather and I were the only ones to escape. He's been homeschooling me in secret ever since, but due to an incident involving a stolen tsungi horn, the government found out about our existence. To protect us, they put us under government protection, and moved us here, to the capitol. They managed to persuade Grandfather to let me enroll in Four Nations High, so they could truly represent each of the four districts. Grandfather said it would be good for me to meet other students and socialize. The truth was I was about as excited to start school as I would be to wrestle a mountain lion naked.

Getting dressed was way more stressful than it should have been that morning. Because of my grandfather's Buddhism, I usually dress in very humble, simple clothes. But did real high school kids wear that? Wasn't I supposed to wear high top sneakers with my boxers showing? Was that how I was going to get girls?

"Oh, man, Appa, what will I do if I see pretty girls?" I asked my dog, rifling through my shirts. "What do I say? Oh, my God, I'll be the only one there who wasn't kissed a girl!"

Appa said nothing. Momo on the bed just meowed.

"I mean, even you've kissed a girl, haven't you, Momo?"

He said nothing, just slyly licked his paw. I groaned. My freaking _cat_ had gotten more action than I had.

I finally settled on overdressing, and wore my favorite button-down with a nice pair of jeans and my cleanest shoes. Grandfather was sitting in the kitchen, enjoying some oatmeal.

"Extra cinnamon, just the way you like it," he said with a smile, pushing my plate towards me.

I just stared down at my oatmeal, my stomach in knots.

"What's wrong, Aang?"

"What if girls don't like me?" I burst out.

He laughed. "You're worried about girls? Oh, Aang, you have much to learn. There will be many girls who make fun of you. But they're not the ones worth knowing. The ones worth knowing will take the time to understand _you_."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. This was not the time for his old-people crap. I managed to struggle down a bite of oatmeal as Grandfather beamed at me.

"When you're done with that, I'll take you to school!"

I swear I almost puked.

After strugglebusing through my oatmeal, I said goodbye to Appa and Momo and got in my Grandfather's ice-blue Prius. The high school was right around the corner from my house, and before I knew it we were at the entrance. There was plenty of time before the bell, so a ton of kids were standing and milling about, a lot of them wearing the traditional colors of their district – red for Fire District, green for Earth District, and a pair of siblings who were wearing Water District blue. I gulped and wanted to sink down in my seat.

"This is a terrible idea, Grandpa," I moaned.

"Nonsense," he said, "you are a wonderful young man who anyone would be lucky to have as your friend."

"But what if they make fun of me for being bald?" I said, rubbing my head. Grandfather and I had shaved our heads our whole lives – it was an Air District tradition.

"Well then, they do not understand your culture, and they are not people with whom you should concern yourself. Now it is time to go. You can do this."

I took a deep breath and said, "I'll call you after school?"

"Please do. You'll be great!"

I picked up my backpack and stepped out of the blue car. With a wave, my grandfather drove off, and I was left standing in front of the school. Everyone else had gone inside, except for the two Water Tribe siblings, a boy and a girl. As they prepared to go inside, the girl turned to look at me –

And I was struck with the first real boner of my young life.

She was _gorgeous_.

Literally the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen in my life – and I'd watched a fair amount of porn for a Buddhist kid. She had long, chocolate-brown hair that she wore in a soft braid down her back. I could tell if she let it out, it would reach down to her hips. She had the tanned skin that was traditional of the Water District people. Her face was so delicate, so gentle…and her eyes, locked on me, were the color of sapphires – big, blue, dazzling.

I swear to God, I just stared at her for like half a minute.

She giggled and said something to her brother, who rolled his eyes. Then she started to walk toward me, which made me seize up.

"We're gonna be late, we can't go helping every charity case in school…" her brother was saying.

"Oh, shut up," she said, coming up to me and smiling. "Hi! Is this your first day at school?"

I could only nod. A girl this pretty was talking to _me_?

She giggled again. The sound was like bells. "Well, my name is Katara, and this is my brother Sokka. We'd be happy to show you around if you'd like."

I just nodded again. She smiled, and then her face roved up to my head. Her eyes widened.

"You're from the Air District, aren't you?" She said. Her brother suddenly seemed more interested as he leaned in to look at me.

"Yeah, how did you know?" I asked.

"I've read all about the Air District's ritual head shaving," she said, her eyes once again locked on mine. "I am so sorry about what happened to your people."

Her voice was so genuine. And she actually knew about my culture! Suddenly my grandfather's words came back to me –

_The girls worth knowing will be the ones who take time to understand you._

Maybe there was some truth in his old-school-Buddhist nonsense.

"What's your name, new kid?" Sokka asked.

"Aang," I replied.

"Well, Aang," Katara said, "let's get started."

I smiled and we stepped through the doors together.

* * *

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading, and welcome to my story! I'm really excited - I've got some fun things planned for this story :) Most of the major characters from ATLA will be in here, in roughly the order that they appear. Now although I ship pretty strongly Kataang (sorry, I know it's Zutara month), I'm still very undecided about Sokka in this story. I can go for either Toph, Suki or Yue. If you've got a particular favorite shipping, please let me know, and I'll see what the most people want and write it in later! Next chapter: Aang's first day of school, where he meets a couple of Mean Girls, and our favorite White Lotus members as his teachers! Tell me what you think :) Much love - PVB**


	2. Fresh Meat

**Chapter Two - Fresh Meat**

* * *

As soon as I stepped through the doors with Katara and Sokka, an explosion of noise hit my ears. The hallway was pure chaos. Several hundred teenagers were gossiping, fighting, blasting music, making out. I stood and blinked for a second.

"Come on," Katara said, "we gotta take you to the secretary, she'll give you your schedule."

She grabbed my hand (_oh my God I'm in heaven_) and we headed through the halls. At first nobody noticed me, but then suddenly people starting whispering about my shaved head. Apparently more people than just Katara knew about my culture.

"How many kids are there from each district?" I asked.

"The most numerous are the Earth District kids. The school's full of them. There are a fair amount of Water District kids, but none from our part of the district. There aren't that many Fire District kids – "

"But they're in charge of the school," Sokka said darkly.

"Are there, like, cliques here?"

Sokka snorted. "You got a lot to learn, new kid. 'Cliques' is a polite term. They're more like gangs."

We managed to leave the crowded hallway and entered into the administrative building. Katara led me up to a room with a pretty older woman, who looked up and smiled at me.

"Hello," I said, finding my voice, "my name is Aang Nomad, and I'm new here."

"Oh! Our very own Air District student!" She searched through her desk and pulled out a folder, which she handed to me. "You should find your class schedule and all information in there."

"Thank you," I said, bowing to her. We headed away, but Sokka grabbed the folder immediately.

"Let's see who you've got…Mr. Pakku for English, that's great, he's pretty chill…never really liked me much…"

"Oh, he _loved_ me," Katara said with a smile. "Mr. Piandao for Math, he's pretty tough…wow, you're in Pre-Calc already?"

"I was always really good at school," I said with a shrug. "Grandfather always said I was very bright."

"Me too, I'm in National Honor Society," Katara said. "Maybe you'll get inducted and we can go to the galas together!"

_Oh, please God._

"Oh, you got Mr. Bumi for earth science, that guy is straight up _ape-shit_…he blows things up like, every day," Sokka said. "One time, he didn't tell me that there was a fire on my seat, and I burnt my fucking – "

"Lucky!" Katara moaned, looking back at the list. "You get Mr. Iroh for history!"

"Is that good?" I asked.

"He's the best," Katara said. "I can't believe you got him your first year. I'm trying to get transferred in to his AP Euro class. He knows _so much_. Hey, but look, we've got art together! Ms. Yangchen is really sweet."

"Do we have any classes together, Sokka?"

Sokka shook his head. "Nah, man, I'm a senior. Only one more year of this hell-hole and then I'm free. I can't believe you have classes with Katara, she's a junior."

I turned to her. "You're a junior?" For some reason the fact that we weren't in the same class was really sad to me.

"Don't worry," she said with that dazzling smile. "I'm not very popular, we'll totally be friends."

She was right. As we walked back through the halls, I noticed most of the other girls glaring at her, and the boys just ignored her. It didn't seem to really bother her, but she looked straight ahead with a little crease between her eyebrows. I finally burst out,

"But you're so pretty! How come you aren't popular?"

"Aw, Aang, you're sweet," she said. Then she sighed. "I'll tell you at lunch. We're not exactly from the 'cool' part of the Water District."

The bell rang. "Well, time to go to first period. Come find us at lunch, we sit at one of the tables by the edge of the cafeteria."

I nodded and smiled. They waved at me as they headed down the hall. I took a deep breath and attempted to find my first class.

Classes were surprisingly good. Mr. Pakku was a great teacher with a soothing little waterfall in the corner of the room that made me feel very calm. He set us to writing stream of consciousness prompts, and then we took turns reading and analyzing them. He gave me a smile when I read mine, but didn't call me out on being Air District.

Neither did Mr. Piandao, for Pre-Calc. He just looked at my bald head and nodded. Sokka was right – he was pretty tough. I had a mountain of homework from his class. But I was enjoying not being the center of attention until I got to ancient languages.

"Oh, my word," Professor Zei said as soon as I walked in. "Are you really from the Air District?"

I tried to stop blushing and nodded.

"Fascinating," he said with awe in his voice. "Then I'm sure you can tell us all about the ancient Tu-Zhang language of the Air Temples of Old?"

"Uhh…"

"Oh, well, I'm sure you're just shy," he said, beaming at me. "You'll have a wealth of knowledge to share with us once you get over your stage fright! Have a seat!"

Trying to avoid the stares of all the students looking at me, I took a seat and kept my eyes down at the desk the whole time. Professor Zei did know a lot, but I wondered whether he or Mr. Bumi were the crazy one.

But when I got to earth science next period, that question was answered.

"Don't worry about the fire!" He yelled, over the sound of his desk literally _burning_. "We had a little bit too much fun in Chemistry today! Just give me one second – "

He pulled a handful of silver crystals out of his pocket and sprinkled them over the fire. Immediately, the fire sank down, leaving a smoldering, smoking hunk of wood. A few of the girls beside me were still hyperventilating.

"Now, wasn't that fun?" He said, turning around to smile at us. He had crazy white hair and one of his eyes was significantly bigger than the other. I was straight-up freaked out.

"Who can tell me what those crystals I used were? Just for shits and giggles."

Still not daring to believe that a teacher had cussed, I raised my hand.

"Yep?"

"They're air crystals," I said. "They suck the oxygen out of the immediate surrounding area. They were invented by the Air District."

I didn't finish that they were invented by the Air District to deal with all the arsons perpetrated by the Fire District during the genocide.

Mr. Bumi roved his eyes over my shaved head and said, "Very good, little air one! No homework for you tonight. Now, everyone take a seat, and let's grow some shit!"

Earth Science ended up being really fun. Mr. Bumi, for all his creepy wheezing and weird outbursts of various swear words, knew a lot about plants, and showed us all the stuff he had growing in his room. While everyone else was assigned reading, he gave me a significant wink, and I headed off to lunch, feeling like my first day wasn't going so bad.

At lunch, however, I was completely out of my element. People walked by me without telling me where to go, sometimes just shoving me. Everyone seemed to sit according to their District – a massive group of Earth District kids sat in the middle of the patio, a group of what looked like very rich Water District girls and boys sat in the corner, and a bunch of black-haired, golden-eyed Fire District kids eyed me from by the science building. I grabbed a tray full of awful-looking food and started looking desperately for Katara and Sokka.

"Aang! Over here!"

Katara and Sokka were sitting alone at a table in the middle of the cafeteria, where Katara was waving at me. I gratefully ran over.

"Hi, guys," I said.

"How was your first day?" Katara asked.

"Oh, really good. Bumi is actually insane."

"Told you," Sokka said.

"But everyone else was really nice. How about you guys?"

"Same old, same old," Sokka said with a shrug.

"I had a good first day," Katara smiled. I almost got another boner and thought that this girl would be the death of me.

"Why are you guys sitting alone?" I asked.

Sokka stuck his nose in the air. "I don't need to sit alone. I'm a varsity lacrosse player, I could sit with them if I wanted to."

Katara leaned in close to me and whispered, "He sits with his sister because he doesn't want _me_ to be alone."

I nodded and looked at Sokka with new appreciation.

"So why aren't you popular?" I asked Katara.

She sighed and pushed her corn dogs around in the ketchup. "We're, uh… we're from the poorer part of the Water District, down in the south. We're actually the only two who aren't from the north here. Our dad's in the army, and our mom died when we were little, and our grandmother really wanted us to get a good education, so we put all of our family savings towards education here. But clearly," she said with a rueful smile, "the Northern Water District kids have never exactly been…accepting, even though we're the same race."

Sokka said nothing, but he had a similar crease in between his eyes just like his sister. I wondered if he really was as popular with the lacrosse boys as he said he was.

"But it's okay," Katara said, perking up. "I've got Sokka, and now I've got you! And when I graduate, I'm going to get a scholarship to go to college and help people. I can't wait – "

"Katara," Sokka said, his voice suddenly urgent. "Look alive. They're here."

Katara's face blanched and she sat up straight. "Don't make eye contact," she whispered to me.

"What - ?"

But the entire cafeteria had fallen silent. I looked towards the door and suddenly froze.

Three stunningly gorgeous Fire District girls had just walked through the door. The main one at the head was staring around with gold eyes that felt like daggers. When she caught sight of me, because I couldn't avert my eyes, she smirked and walked towards me.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Sokka whispered.

"Hey, peasants," the head girl sneered. "How was your summer?"

Sokka just glared, but Katara raised her head and said, loud and clear, "Just fine, Azula, how about yours?"

The head girl, Azula, was definitely beautiful – but it was in a toxic way. She had black hair and two thick bangs on either side of her face. Her narrowed eyes told me she was one disaster away from a complete psychotic meltdown. She looked down at Katara and Sokka like they were dirt.

"Oh, my summer was fantastic, especially since I didn't have to beg for food like some people."

I gasped. Katara blushed, and Sokka said,

"Back off, Azula,"

"Yeah, I'm bored," one of the other two girls said. She had an angular face and shiny hair in an elaborate hairstyle. "We can make fun of these two any day."

"No, Mai, I've got a reason for being here." And Azula turned her terrifying eyes to me.

"Hey, new kid," she said with a smile. "So you're from the Air District."

"Yeah," I said.

She licked her full lips and said softly, "So you and your parents made it out alive?"

I felt my stomach drop, and both Sokka and Katara gasped. The entire cafeteria was completely silent.

"Um…my parents were killed. My grandfather and I escaped," I said. It took all of my strength to meet her eyes.

"Hmm," she said, giving the impression that she really didn't give a shit. "Well, I'm sure you fit in just fine here, as long as you know how it goes."

She leaned in and put her face close to mine. "Hang out with the Water District riffraff all you want, but if you step out of line and challenge Ozai, you're gonna have me and my girls to answer to. And we all know we don't want the last Air District kid to mysteriously disappear, do we?"

I wanted to avert my eyes and look down until she left. But the fact that this girl didn't have any remorse about the destruction of my people made me keep my eyes locked on her, glaring with all my force, my hands clenched into fists. She frowned at me, maybe disappointed that I didn't look more scared, and then walked away without a second glance. The second girl, Mai, followed her, but the last one, a thin girl wearing all pink, turned around and gave Sokka a wink before heading out. It took another few seconds for the cafeteria to resume conversation.

"Ugh!" Katara dropped her head in her hands. "I _hate_ those girls!"

"Who is Ozai?" I asked.

"He's the king around here," Sokka said. "Literally. He's won Prom King every year he's been here. He's got a whole coterie of Fire District cronies who do his dirty work. And those three biddies are the worst."

Katara continued to look completely downcast. She wasn't even eating her food.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She shook her head and didn't answer. I turned to Sokka with my eyebrows raised, and he leaned in and whispered,

"Katara really wants to be Homecoming Queen, but Azula's won it every year. Katara even got on the court last year, but Azula rigged it so she won."

I looked at Katara with some new appreciation for this smart, kind girl. I reached across and held her hand.

"Don't worry, you're a thousand times better than that bitch," I said.

Katara perked up. "Thanks, Aang. Hey, look on the bright side. We've got art together after lunch!"

Just her smile made my heart beat faster.

Art ended up being my favorite class so far. Ms. Yangchen was very chill, and she said for this first day we could draw whatever we want, with whatever medium we wanted. Katara went straight for the watercolors and began painting a gorgeous waterfall.

"I love art," she told me. "Blue is my favorite color, and Ms. Yangchen always lets me do paintings in blue."

"It looks good on you," I said, observing her threadbare, but still pretty, blue dress. She blushed and went back to her watercolor. I looked at the paper with my oil pastels and had to fight back the urge to draw Katara.

After art was my last class of the day – history with Mr. Iroh. Immediately when I entered the classroom I decided I liked this class. There were innumerable fragrant candles burning around the room, and Mr. Iroh, a portly man with a grey beard, was sitting at the front of the class with a giant teapot and about thirty teacups.

"Welcome!" He said as we came in. "We start every class with a relaxing cup of tea. It calms the mind and allows us to fully delve into the past."

Then we all lined up as he filled our cups. I sat down right at the front and sighed as I sipped my tea. It was the most delicious cup of jasmine tea I'd ever had.

"History is, in my opinion, the most important subject you can learn," Mr. Iroh said. His voice was gruff and soothing. "We cannot hope to look forward unless we are prepared to look back. The past can lend us important truths about the future that can help us to fully understand our society. In this class I will attempt to tell you how to learn from the past, starting with our very roots."

Then he began to lecture. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. He began with the founding of our country, something which I had only heard about from Grandfather. By the time I left the classroom, I decided that art and history were my favorite subjects.

Then I headed out to the entrance where I had entered, texting Grandfather on the way to tell him I was done. Katara and Sokka were standing out there, looking like they were waiting for me.

"Hey!" I said. "You were right, Mr. Iroh is great!"

"Isn't he the best?" Katara beamed. "I'll find out tomorrow if I get to be in his class, wish me luck!"

"Is your grandmother coming to pick you up?"

There was an awkward moment when Katara and Sokka looked at each other, and then Sokka said, "No, we walk home, it's not that far away. We just wanted to say goodbye to you."

"Thanks for all your help today, seriously," I said.

"Not a problem," Katara said. She shifted her backpack and smiled at me with those sapphire eyes. "We'll see you tomorrow then, okay?"

"Later, new kid," Sokka said, clapping me on the back. I grinned, and they headed off down the street. A few minutes later, Grandfather pulled up in the Prius, with Appa barking in the backseat.

"Appa!" I said, jumping in. He immediately began licking my face.

"He couldn't wait to see you," Grandfather said with a smile. "He's not used to being at home without you. How was your first day?"

I took a second to think about it, and then said,

"You know, not bad at all."

* * *

**Hey! So since I'll be with my family all tonight and tomorrow, I thought I'd give you a Christmas Present and update! Alright, so that chapter was a little bit of introduction, kinda laying some groundwork. Next chapter things start picking up. The title is 'The Bully and the Princess', if that gives you any clues :)**

**Answering some questions: In case it's not clear, Aang is a sophomore (ie, 15), Katara and Ty Lee juniors (16) and Azula, Mai and Sokka seniors (17). I'll try and keep you updated with character ages as they come along. **

**Also, 70oda: I'm sorry I didn't make Aang with a sassy enough reply! But he is only a sophomore, and Azula is pretty effin scary, so don't worry, he'll grow some balls later.**

**So far, Toph is leading in the polls for Sokka's lady friend, by a very slim margin. If you want something different, then sound off! I want to thank you all for your reviews. I'm so excited for this story and I hope you all will love it as much as I do. Merry Christmas! - PVB**


	3. The Bully and the Princess

**Chapter Three - The Bully and the Princess**

* * *

The next day, when Grandfather dropped me off at school, Sokka was nowhere to be seen. But Katara was sitting outside in the fall warmth, her easel out and painting what looked like a snowy landscape. I stayed still and watched her for a minute. Her brown skin glowed in the sunshine, and her braid fell casually down on her chest. Bright blue eyes stayed locked on the painting, her tongue out a little bit in concentration.

I really thought I was falling in love with this girl.

After a moment of staring, I walked up to her. She looked up and grinned at me.

"Hey, Aang! How are you?"

"I'm great!" I said. "Where's Sokka?"

"Oh, he had a lax meeting," she said. "Practices are gonna be starting soon, so I'll be on my own a lot."

"I'll keep you company," I said immediately.

She giggled. "You really are sweet, you know that? You ever had a girlfriend before?"

My entire body went red, it felt like. "Uh…no…there wasn't a lot of time…what with the genocide and all."

"Oh, how insensitive of me," she said, lowering her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," I said with a shrug. "It really didn't get that bad until I was like thirteen or so."

"Oh," she said again.

The conversation descended into awkwardness. I discovered that it might not be a good idea to talk about the genocide of your people with the girl you liked.

"Hey, Katara, I'm sorry, I – "

"Hey there, pretty girl."

Katara and I whipped around to find a group of Fire Nation boys standing right in front of us. They were all wearing black shirts embroidered with gold, and looked very rich. The one at the head, the oldest, was strikingly handsome, with a whole lot of facial hair for a seventeen-year-old. But the one to his right drew my attention. He had a horribly scarred eye and seemed to not take his eyes off Katara.

The head boy leaned forward over Katara's easel. "You know who I am, of course."

"Hello, Ozai," she said stiffly. I straightened up. This was Ozai?

"Now I don't know your name, but I do know that you're one of the hottest girls in this school." Ozai straightened up and ran a hand through his thick black hair. "And even though you're from the Water District, I'll make an exception and let you run with my clique."

"What _is_ your name?" The scarred boy asked.

"Katara," she replied.

"That's a pretty name," Ozai sneered. "Now come on, I want you to be one of my girls."

Katara frowned at him.

"Come on, baby," he said, his voice soft as silk. "Don't you wanna be Homecoming Queen? We can make it happen."

For a moment Katara seized up, her eyes snapping up to lock on Ozai's. But then she picked up her paintbrush and began painting. Without looking at Ozai, she said,

"I'd rather be a dirt poor Water peasant than one of your heartless whores."

Several of the boys drew in breaths. Ozai stood up and glared down at her.

"What did you say?"

"I said, leave me alone. I'm not having anything to do with you," she said, her eyes on her painting. Ozai calculated his move carefully, and then swiftly knocked over the easel, sending Katara's beautiful painting straight into the dirt.

Katara dropped to her knees, but it was too late – the wet painting was already smeared with dirt. She looked up at Ozai with anger and hurt in her bright blue eyes. Ozai and the rest of his cronies were guffawing with laughter, but the scarred boy stood to the side with a strange expression on his face – was it maybe remorse?

Whatever it was, I was pissed.

"That was a shit thing to do!" I yelled. All the Fire Nation boys turned to stare at me.

"And who the _fuck_ are you?" Ozai asked.

"My name's Aang Nomad, and you are an asshole."

"I've never even seen you around here before…oh, no, wait, you're from the Air District, aren't you?"

Suddenly all the boys began snickering. Ozai leaned forward and smiled at me. His teeth were pearly white and weirdly sharp.

"Well, just keep this in mind the next time you try to mess with me," he said. "My father is General Azulon – maybe you've heard of him?"

I froze. My veins felt like they'd been filled with ice.

"Thought so," he smirked. Then he turned to Katara. "Now, as for you – "

"Ozai!"

Sokka came running up, holding tight to his lax spoon. "What the hell happened? Why is my sister on the ground?"

"Your sister was being a bitch," Ozai said dismissively.

"Impossible," Sokka shot back, helping her up. "You must've done something."

"I'm innocent," he said, as he stroked his beard. Sokka took another look and saw me standing there, frozen stiff.

"What'd you do to the kid?" He asked Ozai.

"Nothing!" Ozai repeated. "God, you're so paranoid."

Sokka was smarter than that. He hefted up his lax stick and swung it over his shoulder. Then he pushed his face right close to Ozai's, though Ozai had at least four inches on him.

"You may think you're hot shit around here, man," he said, his voice low and dangerous, "but I swear to God, you mess with my sister or this kid again, and I will come to you in the middle of the night and I will tear your nuts off."

"Challenge accepted," Ozai said, his smile more of a growl. Sokka narrowed his eyes and I seriously thought a brawl was going to break out when the scarred kid said quietly,

"Ozai, we gotta go."

Ozai surveyed Sokka for another minute, and then spit on the ground.

"Catch ya later, street rat," he said. Then he and the group walked away, leaving Katara, Sokka and I standing outside. Sokka began brushing the dirt off his sister, fuming silently, until Katara said gently,

"Sokka, I'm fine."

He swung around to me, pure rage on his face. The idea that this brand-new friend was willing to take on the biggest bully in school for me made my stomach feel strangely warm.

"What'd he do to do? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Aang, what did he say to you?" Katara asked.

Ozai's comment filled my thoughts again, and I had to take a deep breath before answering, "He said his father is General Azulon. He's, uh…well, General Azulon was the Fire District general who began the genocides, or at least perpetrated most of them. He…uh…" I swallowed through the lump in my throat. "Grandfather thinks that he might have been the one who killed my parents."

Sokka and Katara stared at me, horror on their faces. All this attention was making me uncomfortable, and I stared at the ground. I hadn't thought about my parents' deaths in a long time. It was something that I always managed to push to the back of my mind, but now it was pushing forward again, like a sickly worm in my brain.

"That guy is a complete _dick_," Sokka said emphatically.

"I can't believe he wins Prom King every year," I said. "Isn't that based on voting?"

"It is," Katara said. "He just intimidates everyone into voting for him. Him and that posse of bitches and bros he's got."

I tried to suppress the anger in my chest by using my grandfather's Buddhist breathing techniques, but nothing was really helping. "This is not fair. This should not go on. We have to be able to do _something_."

"What can we do?" Sokka asked. "We don't have any power over him."

Something was building up inside of me – something I hadn't felt before. It wasn't exactly rage. It was more like indignation, mixed with a little determination. Whatever it was, it filled me up.

"Well, his father may be able to be the greatest asshole in the world, but at least in this high school, it's time to stop his reign of douchebaggery."

"What do you want to do?" Katara asked.

I looked her in the eyes and said, "I'm going to run against him as Prom King."

* * *

"Okay, so I've dealt with a lot of crazies in my time – I do play varsity lacrosse, after all – but you, little bald one, are straight-up _nuts_."

We were sitting at lunch, steadily working our way through five baskets of cheese fries as I explained my theory.

"No, this has got to stop," I said. "Ozai is a bully and those girls and bros he has are just as bad." I paused. "Except for that one with the scar. Who is he?"

"His name's Zuko," Sokka said. "Azula's brother. He and Ozai have been friends since they were kids."

I shuddered. The thought that anyone was related to Azula was enough to turn me off to them. "Well, it doesn't matter. I'm going to run a campaign and we are going to take down Ozai."

"Aang, it's his senior year," Katara said. She had been so downcast since the morning. "Once he graduates, it'll all be over. We should just put our heads down and finish out."

"No, Katara! Don't you see? He's creating a culture of fear. After him, it'll be that Zuko kid, then another Fire District kid, and no one else will ever win! Same with the girls, too! Azula's got every girl terrified of her, and I bet there's another little group of wannabes who follow her around, learning her every move. If we don't stop the cycle now, it'll never end!"

"So what do you want us to do?" Katara said, her voice exasperated. "The three of us voting for you isn't going to win anything."

"No," I said, stuffing my mouth with cheese fries as I thought. "That's why," I finally said, "we're going to convince the other districts to vote for me too. One at a time. If we take a stand against Ozai, if enough of us vote against him – I mean, he can't possibly attack us all."

"Probably could," Sokka muttered.

"Well, I'm solid at martial arts – I've been learning since I was a kid – and Sokka, I bet you could hold your own in a fight. I mean, just in case we get attacked."

I looked at Katara, expecting her to freak out at the thought of being attacked, but some of the spark was back in her eyes. "I mean, I just don't want to see that asshole with the crown on his head again," she muttered. "I want someone deserving to finally be the Prom King."

I waited, my breath tense, probably with cheese dripping down my face.

"I'm in," Katara said. "Let's do it. Let's have a revolution. I don't care if I get beat up. I don't have anything to lose. If we don't take a stand, no one will."

My heart rose in my chest, and Katara gave me a saucy little smile. The two of us turned to Sokka.

He looked back and forth between both of us, his mouth stuffed full of fries, and then finally swallowed and said,

"Well, if my baby sister is in, then I'm in. No way in fuck am I letting you get bullied by that asshole again."

"Alright," I said. My heart was pounding like I'd just done a hard workout. Suddenly I didn't feel so much like a little fish in this pond.

"So what's the plan?" Katara asked.

I took a deep breath and said, "We're going to need to win over each of the districts. We need to befriend people, convince them to join the revolution with us. We should probably start with the Water District, since that's where you guys are from." I looked around the room and saw a group of pretty Water District girls sitting in the corner. "And we should start with them."

But when I pointed out the girls, Sokka got weirdly red, and Katara groaned, "Oh, not them."

"What?" I asked.

"We can't start with them," Sokka whispered. "That's Princess Yue and her girls."

"Princess?" I said, looking at the girls. One of them stood out. She was wearing royal purple, not blue, and her hair was a dazzling white. She was laughing delicately, one hand pressed to her mouth. "She can't be a real princess."

"As good as," Katara said. "Her father is the Chief of the Northern Water District. She's from an incredibly rich family. She's basically a princess."

"But I thought you mentioned that your father was very high ranking in the Southern Water District?"

Katara wrinkled her nose and grabbed a cheese fry. "It's different in the Southern district. Our father may be the Chief, but we only have as much money as anyone else. Or, should I say, as little."

Her voice got bitter, and she ferociously bit off the head of her fry. Sokka, too, was looking intently at his thumbs, trying to distract me from the incredible blush that was over his cheeks.

I pondered their inactivity and then said, "Well, she can't be as bad as Azula. I'm going to go introduce myself."

"Aang, no – "

But I was already up and walking over to their table. The girls caught sight of me and immediately paused their conversation, looking me up and down. Yue turned to look at me, and her smile was like looking into a pond on a moonlit night – serene and peaceful.

"Hello," I said, "are you Princess Yue?"

"Yue works fine," she said gracefully. Her eyes were a piercing blue, much lighter in color than Katara's. Her skin wasn't as dark either.

"Well, my name is Aang, and I wanted to introduce myself. This is my first year here."

She stuck out a delicate hand, and when I shook it, her skin was as soft as silk. "It's an honor to meet a real Air District boy. My father always taught us that yours was one of the most incredible cultures in our whole country. I'm truly disgusted at what the Fire District did to your people."

She really did speak like a princess. I found myself wondering if her father sent her in to diplomatic negotiations, just so her calming demeanor and wise words would get shit done. I found myself smiling wide at her.

"Thank you, that's very nice."

She smiled at me and then her blue eyes shifted over to my table, where Sokka and Katara were staring at the conversation.

"You're friends with Sokka Hatori? And his sister?"

"Yep," I said.

Suddenly her smile was more saucy, like Katara's had been, her eyelids suddenly pulled lower. "Tell him I say hi, okay?"

"Okay," I said. "It was a pleasure to meet you."

"You as well," she said. I began to walk away when suddenly her delicate voice called out again – "Aang!"

I turned around, and she had a conflicted look on her face. Her group of girls was tittering. Then her face became determined, and she pulled me over.

"Tell him I'm gonna need a date to Homecoming," she whispered in my ear.

I couldn't believe it. I looked in to her eyes and she gave me the subtlest of winks before turning back to her table. I walked back to my table, completely stunned.

"Well?" Sokka and Katara demanded.

In a daze, I repeated the conversation. Afterwards, Katara and I looked at Sokka, who I had never seen look happier.

"I love your revolution," he whispered.

* * *

**Hey y'all! Hope you had a Merry Christmas! Now we're getting into the meat and potatoes of the story. Next chapter involves bad decisions and our favorite bad boy :)**

**Also, I have some news: Tomorrow, Long-Distance Boyfriend will be coming in from New York for a week, and I will be too busy hanging out (read: getting laid) to do much updating. Also, Long-Distance Boyfriend doesn't know that I write fanfction, so he thinks I've been writing my novel all this time, which I've really had writer's block on for two weeks now, and if he saw me writing he'd ask what I was writing and if he could read it and it would create a whole clusterfuck of lies that I just don't want to deal with...Oh, the joys of being an embarrassed twenty-something Fanfic writer. All I'm saying is, I'm sorry for not updating. I love you all so very much, so please accept my humblest of apologies. I promise, I shall return. Please Review! Au revoir - PVB**


	4. Vodka Life Lessons

**Chapter Four - Vodka Life Lessons**

* * *

Somehow, miraculously, I managed to make it through my first week at Four Nations High. We ducked whenever we saw Azula and her girls coming, and we managed to evade Ozai completely. Sokka saw him, because they were in some classes together, but there were no brawls. On Friday, we stood outside the school, and Sokka stretched his hands up to the sky.

"_Freedom_," he sighed.

"No, homework," Katara corrected. "Dad wouldn't want you to flunk out."

"Well, I've got lax practice all day Saturday, when do you expect me to do anything else?"

"You guys could come over to my house now and we could do homework together," I said, perking up. "I mean, or we could just watch TV, or grab a pizza, and you could meet my dog and cat…"

The prospect of having friends over to my house was perhaps the most exciting thing to happen to my young life, but Sokka and Katara gave each other looks – weird, shifty, sad looks.

"We're really sorry," Katara said, "but we've got…prior engagements on Friday nights."

"It's nothing against you, Aang," Sokka said, and I think it was the first time he'd ever said my name. "We'd love to come, but…"

They looked at each other again. There was something going on I couldn't quite understand, but I covered up and just smiled. "Don't worry about it, guys! We've got a whole school year together."

"That's right," Katara beamed. "How about this, how about we reschedule our hangout for after school Monday?"

"That's perfect!" I said. "Cause we're going to implement our battle strategy Monday, starting with Princess Yue!"

Sokka turned beet red and began running a hand through his hair, forgetting that most of it was pulled into a ponytail. Katara giggled.

"See ya later, Aang!"

And the two of them headed off down the street, back to wherever they lived. I stood there smiling until Grandfather came to pick me up, at which point I immediately talked his ear off about my new friends and our strategy to bring down Ozai, of which he was fully in support. I was looking forward to a relaxing evening with Appa and Momo, watching our favorite show – Teen Titans.

However, Katara did have a point. I had a ton of homework, thanks mostly to Mr. Piandao. I spent most of the weekend at my desk, Appa warming my feet and Momo purring around the room, as I struggled through innumerable pages of pre-calc homework. Grandfather brought me tea from time to time, and at night we meditated together, as always. But as much as I loved my pets and my grandfather, I couldn't wait to see my new friends again.

So when I got dropped off to school on Monday morning, I set out immediately to find Katara and Sokka. In our usual meet-up place outside the school, there was a large huddle of Fire District boys. I steered myself away and prepared to not interfere when I heard a familiar voice –

"Ozai, I said _no_."

I froze. Katara!

"I'm not really good at taking 'no' for an answer, little lady. And since your brother isn't here, there's no one to protect you…"

_Like hell, _I thought, preparing to sprint forward and unleash some whoop-ass on these assholes. But before I could, there was a new voice – a really deep, masculine voice.

"Back off the girl, Ozai."

It wasn't the kid with the scar. I didn't recognize the voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ozai said, "is this the part where I'm supposed to be _scared_?"

"No," the voice said, "but this is."

And there was the sound of fist hitting flesh as Ozai fell to the ground. I ran up beside Katara to find a tall, handsome boy with a full head of hair literally tearing apart the Fire District boys. With quick kicks and punches, he'd managed to knock out about eight of them, and the rest were running away now. He stood up and smiled down at us.

He was handsome, but the sight of him made my blood boil. He had mismatched clothing, like he lived on the streets, and had an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth. He met Katara's eyes, and there was a weird, girlish grin on her face that I hadn't seen before.

I felt like punching this guy in the nuts.

"Hey," he said, in that deep voice, as he looked down at Katara. He had a solid foot on her.

"Hi," she said, her voice light.

"Katara, right?"

"Yeah," she said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jet," he said, the cigarette bobbing up and down as he spoke.

He smiled down at her, a cocky half-smile, and I saw her hands tremble. "Thanks for saving me," she said.

"No prob," he replied. "Ozai's an ass. You didn't have anyone protecting you."

"I was protecting her!" I snapped. Jet turned his eyes to me and nodded.

"You're the new kid, right? Aang? From the Air District?"

"Yeah, and I had it all under control, right, Katara?"

But she barely even looked at me, her gorgeous blue eyes locked on Jet's. I was once again seized with the desire to feed this kid to Appa (though the worst Appa could do was lick him to death).

"Come on, Katara, we gotta go find Sokka," I said, trying desperately to lure her away from Jet.

"Your brother? Yeah, he's pretty chill," Jet said.

Katara only nodded. Her face was bright red. What the hell did she see in this guy?

"I see you guys eating lunch alone. Wanna eat with my crew? We sit out back, by the theatre."

"Absolutely not – "

"We'd love to!" Katara said, slapping a hand over my mouth. "We'll see you at noon!"

Jet cocked a smile again and lounged off. I immediately rounded on Katara.

"What are you doing? That guy is an ass."

"Oh, stop it, Aang," she said. Her face was feverish – I'd never seen her like this before. "He saved me from Ozai!"

"Yeah, but I'm just getting a bad vibe from him. We really shouldn't eat lunch with him."

"Come on," she said, finally meeting my eyes, "a guy that cute has _never_ talked to me before. Please don't ruin this for me, okay?"

_You could be with me! I could make you way happier than that cocky asshole!_

But her eyes looked so happy, so hopeful, her entire face full of light, that I just couldn't say no. "Okay. Just for today. But Sokka's not going to like it."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, he's just a sourpuss. He'll come around!"

I crossed my fingers and hoped that he didn't.

Fortunately for me, Sokka brought his A-game today. He was drinking so much haterade that by the time Katara told him about eating lunch with Jet and his 'crew', he was about ready to cut somebody. I absolutely relished in his unmitigated judgment, because it soothed my bitter, jealous heart, but it meant that Katara was angry, and when we finally got to lunch and headed over to the theatre, you could cut the tension between the three of us with a butter knife.

"Jet!" Katara called, walking over to him with her tray, putting as much distance as possible between us and her. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Hey, Katara," he said with a smile. He and five other guys were sitting on the floor, Jet leaning lazily against the wall. He nodded to us. "Aang, Sokka."

We just grunted and sat down.

"This is my crew. That's Sneers, Smellerbee, Longshot, Pipsqueak and the Duke."

What kind of names were those?

Sokka didn't have the same filter that I did. "What's up with those names? Are you guys in a gang or something?"

Jet laughed. "Nah, man, we just don't really go by our given names. Most of us don't really have parents, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Katara said. Her body was leaning towards him and I thought my blood was going to boil over.

"We're a bunch of Earth District kids from the boonies. Lots of Fire District raids when we were kids took our parents away. We had to move to the orphanage here in the capital." He looked me in the eyes. "The Air District weren't the only ones hurt by General Azulon."

For a brief moment, I nodded slightly, and Jet and I reached an understanding. But then Katara gave him those puppy dog eyes again and I instantly went back to my hatred.

"I completely understand," Katara said. "Sokka and I lost our mother in a Fire District raid. I was only six."

"I'm so sorry," he said.

Now I was freaking out. Katara had never told me how her mother died. It was from the Fire District too? We had this in common and she'd never told me? Holy shit, she really did like this Jet guy!

I met Sokka's eye and the two of us somehow reached an instant brotherhood. We both hated Jet with a burning, boiling, bursting passion.

The rest of lunch passed with us glaring at Jet as he and his crew told stories of how they managed to fight Ozai. As much as I hated him, I had to admire the way that he was fighting back against the cruel caste system of this school, even if I didn't really approve of the methods. At the end of lunch, he invited us to come back the next day, and Katara said yes before Sokka or I could jump in.

Once we were out of earshot, the dams burst.

"Absolutely fucking not," Sokka said. "I hate that guy."

"What? Why?" She asked.

"Why? He's a douche!"

"He's fighting against Ozai, which is more than you're doing!"

"I'm helping Aang! We were supposed to talk to Princess Yue at lunch today, in case you've forgotten!"

"I haven't forgotten, I'm just making new friends, which, if you haven't noticed, we're a little short on."

"This is not the way to make friends, Katara!"

"Jesus, Sokka, it's like you don't want me to ever have a boyfriend!" She said, her voice filled with tears. "I finally find a cute guy who's nice to me and both of you have to ruin it for me!"

"Can't you see?" I burst out. They both turned to me. "He's only being nice to you to get in your pants."

Bad move.

Katara's eyes watered now, and she drew herself up to her full height, which to my great dismay was about two inches above me. For a brief moment, I had the belief that this girl could kick my ass.

"Aang, I can't believe you," she said, her voice a low growl. "You speak about your Buddhism and acceptance of all people, and yet you won't even give this man a chance? I have had it with you – both of you. I'm free to sit with whoever I want, and I don't need either of your approval!"

And she turned on her heel, her braid smacking me in the face, and stormed off.

I rubbed the place where her hair hit me and turned to Sokka.

"Shit," both of us said at the same time.

Katara sat with Jet every day at lunch that week. In the mornings she and Sokka walked in, anger on both of their faces, and didn't talk at all until they walked back home together. She took a slightly different stance with me. During art class, she would babble about how excited she was to be friends with Jet, how nice he was, how his gang was so cool, how hot he looked in that shirt… I punched through more than one sheet of paper with my pencil. It was so fucking unfair.

But on Friday, she finally broke her silence with Sokka when we met up after school.

"Jet's invited me to a party at his house tonight," she said, her voice defiant.

Sokka looked like a squirrel had shit on his head.

"_What_?" He spluttered.

"Did I stutter?"

"Katara, you are not allowed to go to that party!"

"This is a terrible idea," I agreed.

"I _knew_ you guys would act like this!" She said, her voice rising. "I'm sixteen years old and I can't even go to a friend's house for one night!"

"Katara, no!" I had never seen Sokka this freaked out. "There'll be drinking! There'll be drugs! There'll be sex! Oh, my God, you can't fucking go!"

"I'd like to see you stop me," she snapped. I had never seen her look this fierce.

Sokka stood with his mouth open, gaping at her. She curled her lip and met my eyes.

_Try and stop me_, her eyes said.

And then she pranced away. Sokka threw his head back and half-screamed.

"Fuck this Jet character!"

I could only nod in agreement.

That night, I couldn't focus on my Teen Titans. The hours got later and I stayed by my phone, petting Appa absentmindedly. Katara was as good as her word. Sokka had locked every window and door, but she climbed out through the attic fire escape and was gone before he knew what was happening. He and I texted every half hour or so, our worry getting the best of us.

_She's never been like this before, _he texted. _I'm freaking the fuck out._

_She's smart,_ I told him. _She'll be fine._

But around ten o'clock, I finally received a text from Katara.

_Aaaaaaannnnnggg! Oh my gee im soooooo drrruuunnkkkkzzzzz_

Oh, Jesus. _Please stop drinking. Sokka and I are really worried about you._

_Wut da fuc everrrrr. Im a big guuuurrrllllll. This so much funnnnnn!_

"I fucking hate girls, Appa," I said. He turned to me and raised his ears. "I don't understand why she's doing this."

Appa licked my face and I sighed and settled down to wait by the phone some more.

It was a good thing I did. At one in the morning, the phone began ringing. I blinked myself out of my half-dream and picked it up, only to hear crying on the other end of the line.

"Katara?" I said, waking up immediately.

"Aang," she whispered. I could barely hear her over what sounded like a wild party in the background. "I'm so…sorry, but I need you to come p-pick me up."

She was sobbing. "What's wrong? What happened? Do you want me to call Sokka?"

"No! He's just…gonna freak out. Please, I'm so sorry, but I need to g-go home. I'm on Whitehurst Avenue, just by your neighborhood. It's the brown house with all the lights."

I paused a moment, trying to decide whether to tell Sokka or not. But then her voice came through.

"Please, Aang, I need you to hurry." Her voice was so scared.

That did it. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

I bolted out of bed and ran to Grandfather's bedroom, where I woke him up by shaking him.

"Grandpa, I need you to wake up. We have to go pick up Katara. She's at a party and something's wrong."

"Really?" He got out of bed and started looking around for his glasses. "Is she okay?"

"I don't think so."

"Then we'd better hurry."

The streets were silent as we drove, until we got to Whitehurst Avenue. There was no need for Katara to describe the house to me – it was lit up like a Christmas tree on the quiet street. We pulled up in the Prius and waited. After a few moments, a solitary figure came stumbling out of the house and headed for us.

It took me a while to recognize Katara, because it looked nothing like her. She was wearing tight black skinny jeans and high heels, with a low-cut red top. Her beautiful curly hair was lying straight as a pin all the way down to her hips. She was clutching a blue purse and rubbing her eyes.

I opened the back seat to let her in, but before I could, another figure came out of the house, sprinting towards us.

"Katara!"

It was Jet, and just from the tremor in his voice I could tell he was drunk. He reached Katara in a heartbeat and grabbed her wrists, trying to pull her back in.

"Come on, baby girl, we weren't done – "

Rage filled up my blood, and I had one foot out the door to defend my girl – before the opportunity was denied me again.

Because Katara drew back her fist and punched him in the face.

While he reeled backwards, she dove into the backseat, I slammed the door, and Grandfather was peeling away like his life depended on it. Immediately, Katara slumped onto my shoulder and began sobbing.

I couldn't help myself. I stroked her hair and squeezed her close. "Katara, what happened? What did he do?"

"Aang," she sobbed, her voice almost unintelligible between her drunkenness and her sobs, "he tried – he tried – we were – his bedroom – "

My heart stopped. "_What_?"

She just shook her head and kept sobbing. I held her close and vowed to slice off Jet's nuts the next time I saw him.

"I'm gonna hurl," she whispered.

"Grandpa?" I said urgently.

"Gotcha," he said. We drove up in the carport and Grandpa ran around to open the door. It became immediately clear that Katara could not walk, so using all the strength in my arms, I picked her up bridal-style and raced to the bathroom. It would have been romantic if Katara wasn't moaning a little bit. I set her down as gently as I could, but it didn't matter. She grabbed the toilet like it was a life raft and immediately vomited.

I did the first thing I could think of. I reached up and held her hair back.

"I'll get some water," Grandfather said.

"And a towel, please," I said.

It was a few moments before Katara could speak again. By that time Grandfather and I were sitting on the tile floor with her, while Momo sat in the sink, watching. She blinked, her pupils dilated, and then hauled herself up and looked Grandfather in the eyes.

"Mr. Nomad, my name is Katara Hatori," she said with a quavering voice. "I'm so sorry that you have to see me like this. I swear – I swear I'm not normally like this. Thank you for taking such good care of me."

"Oh, Katara, call me Grandfather," he said gently. "And do not worry about my reaction. We all make mistakes. And youth is the best time in which to learn from these mistakes." He stood up and patted me on the back. "But my grandson will take good care of you tonight."

He headed out, and Katara looked at me. Her eyes were swimming in and out of focus. I held up the water and she dutifully took a sip.

"Aang…" she whispered. And then she ducked her head back down and continued the carnage.

She was sick for the better part of four hours. Looking back on it, that was the time when my crush should have vanished. The honeymoon period was over. Katara was not a perfect human being, I saw that now. She moaned and cried and puked. I saw every meal she'd eaten for the last forty-eight hours, as well as large quantities of bright red liquid that I assumed was what she'd drank. For a lot of it, she was slumped on the toilet sobbing, her high heels curled up underneath her. It was one of the most unattractive poses a girl could ever be in.

But through that long night, somehow I fell more in love. I stayed by her side that whole time. I held her hair and rubbed her back and called her 'baby' and 'sweetie' like I'd wanted to for weeks, assuming that she would remember very little of this. I watched her regret every decision she'd made this week and the painful process of purging her body of toxic liquids, and my love for her only grew. I wanted nothing more than to take care of this girl for the rest of my life, feel the absolute joy of her leaning into me and knowing that I was the person she needed.

She was a dutiful charge, drinking her water when I told her to, and after about three hours she finally started talking. In fits and bursts, accompanied by a lot of vomit, I learned what had happened. Jet hadn't told her how much alcohol was in that punch, and had gotten her to play innumerable drinking games with him and his crew until she couldn't see straight. Then he'd taken her into his bedroom on the pretext of showing her something, and they'd started kissing. Eventually his hands found their way to her pants, and he'd tried to take them off. It was then that she'd escaped to the bathroom to call me. She managed to avoid him until we got there, but he'd chased her outside.

"He wanted it all week," she murmured. It was going on four in the morning. She was slumped on the toilet, one arm supporting her head, her eyes bloodshot and her face fevered. Her black eyeliner was in streaks down her cheeks. I was leaning my head against the cabinet with Momo on my lap. "He wanted it all week. He knew where he was going. And I let him."

She sighed. "I should have listened to you."

I shrugged. "Maybe it was something you had to learn on your own."

My phone started ringing. I looked down and saw that it was Sokka. He'd already called three times. I picked it up. "Hello?"

"Aang, I am freaking out. Where is Katara? Have you heard from her?"

"No, don't worry, she's with me. She – "

But she shook her head desperately, and I couldn't say it, not in front of her. "She was tired, so we picked her up and brought her here. It's closer than your house."

"Oh. Okay. Is she asleep?"

Katara nodded. "Yeah, she is," I said. "But I'll try to get her back to you in the morning."

"Oh, great. Thanks so much, Aang."

"Yeah, no problem." I flipped the phone shut and looked at her. She smiled at me, a true smile.

"You're a good friend, Aang. Really. Thank you so much."

I looked at her and knew I would love her for a long, long time.

Finally, when nothing but bile came out, I picked her up and carried her to our guest bedroom. I took off her heels and tucked her in to bed. She passed out immediately, her sweaty hair covering the pillow. I told Momo to look after her and he obediently jumped up on the bed beside her.

In the morning, I called Sokka and told him the truth. He was over immediately. I showed him where she was, passed out asleep. He sighed and leaned against the wall.

"I was so worried this was going to happen. I should never have let her go."

"It's not your fault. She was gonna go anyway."

He shook his head and then looked me in the eye. "Aang, you are a saint. Thank you so much. Thanks for taking care of her."

"Of course," I said.

Sokka looked at me and understood in a heartbeat. I blushed a little, but he just smiled and shrugged. "Do you think your grandfather would mind giving us a ride back? I want to get her back in her own bed."

My grandfather didn't mind, because he was awesome like that. Sokka and I loaded Katara into the backseat and Grandfather drove them back. When he arrived back home, I was sitting on the porch, stroking Appa.

He came up and said, point-blank, "You love that girl."

"Yep," I said. Couldn't even lie.

He smiled. "Well, maybe you should know that as Sokka was carrying her back into the house, she whispered your name."

I looked up at the sky and didn't try to hide my enormous smile.

* * *

**Heyyy! Mama's back! Six straight days of fucking will really do miraculous things for your writing. My Muse (a sassy black woman who really has no time for me) was appreciative of the long break I gave her, so when I sat down to write this, she poured words from my fingertips like vodka from Katara's mouth. Anyway, the votes are pretty much tallied for Sokka's female companion,which gives me a better idea of where I'm going with this story, but if you've got any other ideas/suggestions, please sound off! I love you all so much :) Please Review! - PVB**


	5. The First Allies

**Chapter Five – The First Allies**

* * *

Sokka and I learned very quickly that though Katara was a fantastic friend and a wonderful caretaker, she was the whiniest bitch in the world when she herself got sick. I could tell she didn't really get sick that often. I called her on Saturday to check up on her and at first all I heard was some low moaning on the other side of the phone.

"Katara?" I asked.

"Uhhh…Aang…" she whimpered. "Everything hurts…"

"Well, that's what happens when you drink your weight in fruit punch flavored vodka and then puke it all back up."

"Don't remind me," she said. Her voice was so low. "Will you tell Sokka to turn the lights down? They're burning me."

"Huh?" The phone was suddenly taken away and Sokka's low growl came through.

"She is never allowed to drink again."

"Really?"

"This is an absolute nightmare. She will not shut up. I swear, last year I took like five shots of Everclear at a lax party and puked for _way_ longer than her and I was not _nearly_ this whiny."

"Go easy on her, it's her first time."

"My patience is so out."

"I can come over to help you out."

"No!" Sokka said immediately, his voice rising. "No…thanks, Aang, but I got this."

"Oh. Okay. Well, get her ready to go, cause on Monday we're talking to Princess Yue!"

"What's this 'we'? _You're_ talking to Princess Yue."

"No, all three of us are going," I said. "Anyway, you're the one who's supposed to ask her to homecoming. She'll be more receptive if you're there."

I could almost hear Sokka blushing through the phone. "Well…I mean…I just…_fuck_ this shit."

"Thanks buddy," I said cheerfully. "Tell Katara she's a trooper!"

Katara moaned behind Sokka.

"See you on Monday, you bald little loser," Sokka grunted before hanging up. I chuckled and headed back to my homework.

Monday turned up bright and early, and I waited outside school, excited and nervous at once. I wore my best blue shirt in honor of the occasion. Eventually, Sokka and Katara walked up. Weirdly enough, Sokka was the one who looked like he'd been punched in the gut, while Katara was as fresh as a peach.

"Hey, Aang!" She chirped. "Sorry for being such a bitch on the phone on Saturday. I gave poor Sokka a run for his money."

Sokka curled his lip and muttered something incomprehensible.

"Time to nut up or shut up, dude. You're talking to the girl of your dreams at lunch today."

"Looking like I've been dragged through a pile of bison shit? Ix-nay on the flirting-ay."

"That's not how pig latin works – "

"Sokka, you've got to," Katara said. "We need to see Ozai go down. And getting Princess Yue will give us an in to the Northern Water District kids. It's our best first step."

Sokka said nothing, but he did straighten up and walk through the doors. Katara and I gave each other a look and followed him in. I guessed that meant yes.

At lunchtime, Sokka was a bundle of nerves. The three of us downed our lunches in record time, and I said,

"I'll start the conversation, but I may need you guys for backup, okay?"

Katara nodded, but Sokka looked about ready to piss his pants. Before either of us could give him the time to pussy out, we grabbed him by the arms and marched him over to the table of Water District girls, all of whom got quiet when we walked up. They were all wearing thick blue dresses trimmed with fur – except for Princess Yue, who was wearing a light purple. She was the only one who smiled at us.

"Hey guys! How are you?"

"I'm great, Princess, thank you," I said. "Do you mind if we sit down?"

"Not at all," she said, waving her hand in at the seats next to her. We all sat down and she delicately placed down her salad fork.

"I'm so glad to see you! Aang, Katara – Sokka." She paused and gave him an extra smile. His face dropped. "What can I do for you guys today?"

"Well, we've got a kind of weird proposition," I said.

"Shoot."

"I'd like to ask you to vote for me for Prom King this year."

Her lips went out in a little frown. "You're running against Ozai?" All of her biddies were listening in.

"Yes," I said, finding my strength deep in my stomach. "I know I'm only a sophomore, but I think it's time we take a stand against his reign of bullying. Ozai's father, General Azulon, probably killed my parents, and while I can't do anything about that, I think we can all do something about the dictatorship he has going on in this high school."

Yue took a deep breath and puffed out her cheeks.

"Do you really think that Ozai deserves to be Prom King?" Katara said.

"Of course not," Yue said. "It's just that…my girls are scared of Ozai. I've been here for four years, and he's managed to terrify all of us into thinking that he's going to come after our families if he doesn't win."

"Individually, yes, we're very vulnerable to him," I said. "But if we all band together, we can stand a chance. He can't possibly attack all of us. Your father is the Chief of the Northern Water District – you can stand up to him!"

"Plus, prom isn't until next semester," Katara said. "You can lay low if you need to. All we need is your support when the time comes."

Yue had a very good poker face – probably from years of being in politics. Her cool blue eyes roved over the faces of her terrified girls before resting on Sokka's face.

"What do you say, Sokka?" She asked.

Moment of truth. Katara and I leaned in.

Sokka looked her in the eyes and said, "A lot of people in this school look up to you, Princess. I think it's your duty to take a stand against this injustice and vote for Aang. It may not seem like a big deal, but I'm a senior too, and I've seen Ozai make prom every year this horrible, crappy event, ruled over by him and his posse. Aang would make a great Prom King. He cares about other cultures, he's kind, he's passionate, and he's got another two years to make Four Nations High the best it can be. But we need your help, you and your girls and the whole Water District to make that happen."

I felt like someone had lit a candle inside my chest. Sokka's words of praise made me the happiest I'd been since before my parents died. Katara could see my happiness, and she reached over and squeezed my hand. I snuck a look at her and saw that her face was split in a wide smile.

Yue was starting to smile, looking at Sokka. So he went in for the kill.

"Plus, if you vote for Aang, I'll take you to homecoming."

Immediately all of the girls began tittering, and Yue blushed. I swear my jaw could have dropped.

"Well, sir, you've got me there," she said, extending a hand. "On my honor as Princess Yue Misong of the Northern Water Tribe, I will vote for Aang for Prom King, and I shall convince my girls to do so as well. And there'll be no need to hide it – it's about damn time someone stood up to him."

Sokka, Katara and I could have jumped for happiness. Sokka reached out his hand and vigorously shook hers, which made her giggle.

"And you better get me a purple corsage for homecoming, Mr. Hatori. It's my favorite color, and if you fail, I'm afraid I'll have to kill you."

Sokka's entire face was lit up. "I won't let you down, Princess."

She giggled and turned to me. "Unfortunately, I can't do anything about the men of my District. For that, you've got to talk to Hahn." She jerked her chin towards a large group of blue-clad Water District boys sitting outside in the sun. "But I'm pretty sure I can get most of the girls."

"That's all we can ask," I said. I still couldn't stop smiling. "Thank you so much, Princess. Honestly. This is incredible."

She laughed again. It was a truly enchanting laugh. "Please, guys, call me Yue. And I'm glad to help." She whipped a pen out of her bag like a pro and scribbled something on Sokka's palm. "Call me, okay? Unfortunately, you will have to go through my father to take me to homecoming."

Sokka's face blanched a little, but he recovered quickly. "For you? Anything."

She smiled her peaceful smile. "Take care, guys."

The three of us grinned at her and headed outside into the sun. For a moment, Sokka looked completely calm, stolling along the dirt paths. The next moment, he had lifted Katara up in his arms.

"You hear that? YOU HEAR THAT? I got Princess Yue's number! What the fuck! A guy like me!"

"Sokka, can't breathe!" Katara gasped.

He set her down and ran over to me. He grabbed my shoulders and for a second I thought he was going to kiss me. "Aang, your revolution is the absolute shit! I love you, I love you, I love you!"

"I certainly hope not," I said, half-laughing. "That might get awkward with Princess Yue."

Sokka stood up and did the weirdest, most random victory dance ever.

"Look out, Ozai!" He yelled. "Cause we're coming for ya!"

* * *

The final bell of the day rang, and Mr. Iroh sighed and put down his chalk. "Alright, students, be sure to read Chapter Eight, and I'll see you tomorrow."

There was an immediate scraping of chairs and chatter of gossip as his sophomore class got up and headed out. Most of them left their tea cups in the bin by the door by simply dropping them in. But the last one, Aang Nomad, gently placed his cup in and smiled up at Iroh.

"Thanks for the lesson, Mr. Iroh! It was really good today."

"I'm glad you liked it!" Iroh said. "Normally my sophomores don't really enjoy world history. Did you like learning about your heritage?"

Aang nodded. "I hadn't really heard a lot of it. The village elders told me some when I was a child, but…"

His sentence dwindled off, and Iroh shook his head.

"A true tragedy."

"Mr. Iroh…I mean, you're from the Fire District, aren't you?"

His soulful gray eyes searched Iroh's face.

"Originally, yes, I am from the Fire District. But I have lived in the Capital for many years now."

Aang still stayed silent, like he was trying to judge Iroh.

"I have never, nor will I ever, agree with what the Fire District did to your people," Iroh said.

That made Aang finally smile. "You're the best, Mr. Iroh. I'll see you tomorrow!"

And he headed off, in a weirdly good mood for a kid on a Monday. Iroh smiled and started packing up his things. The sun slanted in from the windows and bounced off his green teapot and all the teacups. He'd bring them home and wash them. Then he had those tests to grade for his junior AP class. That Katara Hatori sure was a smart one…he was looking forward to seeing how she did…

But his mind kept drifting back at Aang's big gray eyes. He didn't have the strength to tell him that not only did he live in the Fire District, but that he used to be a General. He was there when Generals Azulon and Ezain, his own brother, began the Air District raids. He'd gone on a raid with them and the fire, the screams, the blood…suddenly Iroh was very grateful for his quiet teacher's life. He would never be expected to kill another gray-eyed person, at least not in this classroom.

The door banged open and a tall, handsome boy slouched into the room and collapsed in one of the chairs.

"Hello, nephew! How was your day?" Iroh said.

Zuko just grunted. His head was buried in his hands, covering his trademark scar on his right eye.

"Something wrong?"

"Well, no. I mean…" Zuko picked his head up and ran a hand through his scruffy brown hair. "Uncle, have you ever felt like Ozai is just a complete ass?"

Iroh weighed his words carefully. "Yes. Since the first moment I met him."

"You met him when he was a baby."

"Yep. Since then."

Zuko made an exasperated noise in the back of his throat. "I mean, he didn't use to be like this. But lately, he's just so obnoxious about everything. It's like, if he doesn't win Prom King the world's going to end."

"Well, you're his oldest friend. You've been together since you were children. If anyone can talk sense into him, it's you."

"It's not gonna happen if he's dating my sister. Azula just keeps talking his ear off about how he's the greatest thing to happen to the world. I mean, we all know they're gonna be Prom King and Queen, so why does he have to be a douchebag about it?"

"I thought you were excited to be Prom King next year when Ozai graduates," Iroh said, as he sat down to look his nephew in the eyes.

"I was," Zuko said. His uncle's intense stare intimidated him, so he looked down at the floor. "But I mean…I don't know. I should be Prom King next year. It's what my father would have wanted. To keep the Fire District monopoly over this high school."

But the image of that pretty Water District girl kept popping up in his head – the burning in her sapphire eyes when Ozai pushed her gorgeous painting to the ground. The way that she stood up to him with no sign of fear but a little tremble in her chin. Sometimes her eyes would linger over his scar, and maybe pity would flash for a moment. Zuko hated pity, but he thought…if it was from that girl…maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Katara. That was her name. Katara.

Iroh noticed the way that Zuko's gold eyes went out of focus, and he knew what was going on. "Sounds like Ozai has been bullying someone."

Zuko pursed his lips and shook his head. "No. Just a Water District peasant."

Iroh deflated a little. Then the door burst open again.

"Zuko, what in the hell is taking you so long? Oh…hello, Uncle."

"Azula," he said, mustering up a smile. "How was your day?"

"Ugh, whatever," she said, leaning against the wall. "Do you have to give me so much homework, Uncle? I have better things to do than read about old dead people."

"If your grade improves, I'll give you less homework. But you'll never graduate on time if you keep this up," Iroh warned.

Azula rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She cut an imposing figure in the late afternoon sunlight, which bounced off her black hair and high leather boots. Her waist was tiny and the gold jewelry she wore on her wrists and neck signified her high status. Her Hermes bag dangled casually off her shoulder.

"So, Zuzu," she said with a devious smile, "I should hope you were talking to Uncle about who you're taking to homecoming. It's coming up quicker than you think, and who you take is very important for your stature."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "I don't give a shit who I take."

"You should. Ty Lee and Mai both have their eye on you."

Zuko considered. Ty Lee, the head cheerleader, was a vapid airhead who wore only pink and liked to cartwheel down the hall. But Mai, Azula's quiet childhood friend, with her traditional hairstyles and Gothic fashion sense…he'd seen her in class one day whittling away on a piece of wood with a thick knife that she'd magically produced from her bag. After school, she would sit on the hood on her black Range Rover and chain-smoke, her expressionless eyes roaming the school.

That was the kind of girl Zuko needed. No drama. No guilt. He figured she'd put out too. And he liked it rough.

"I could go for Mai," he said.

Azula cocked a smile. "Well, I'm not doing your dirty work for you. Ask her yourself. Hint: she likes black roses."

Zuko resisted the urge to groan. Black roses. That's cliché as balls.

For a brief moment, he wondered if the Water District girl liked roses.

Then he shook it out of his head and grabbed his backpack. "Let's get going. See you, Uncle."

Azula pranced out of the room without saying goodbye, and Iroh watched as his favorite (his only) nephew headed out. Then he shook his head.

"Come on, Zuko. You're better than this," he said out loud.

* * *

**Hello lovers! I was writing this and realized there hadn't really been a whole lot of Zuko in this story yet. So I threw some in because I know all Avatards have a boner for Zuko, whether we admit it or not. And he'll obviously be a big character a little later.**

**Also, I hope this chapter cleared up the whole Ozai/Zuko/Azula clusterfuck I've got going on here, but if not, here's a quick synopsis: Zuko and Azula are siblings, but they are NOT related to Ozai. Ozai's dad, Azulon, and Zuko's dad, Ezain (Iroh's brother) are generals in the Fire District Army, so the kids have all grown up together. Ozai is dating Azula (I know, it's weird, but roll with me). Also, because this is an AU and I can do whatever the hell I want, Azula is one year OLDER than Zuko, which makes Zuko a junior. It just works better in the story. I know it's a little weird divorcing yourself from the idea that Ozai is their dad, but I really wanted him to be the main villain in this story while preserving the other character relationships, and this was the best way to make it happen.**

**So thanks for reading, and please keep the great reviews coming! Next chapter: Kyoshi Warriors, mothafucka! - PVB**


	6. Girlfight

**Chapter Six – Girlfight**

* * *

"You do it."

"No, you do it."

"I'm not doing it."

"You have to."

"You're Water District, you talk to him."

"I already talked to Princess Yue. This is your fool idea, you do it."

Three weeks after our meeting with Princess Yue, and we still hadn't talked to Hahn about the rest of the Water District boys voting for me. In our defense, the semester had started up really quick. Katara and I were swamped with homework, and Sokka had lacrosse practice almost every night. I hadn't realized how much harder real school was than homeschooling.

"Aang, talking to Princess Yue was one thing. Talking to all those guys is about as terrifying as talking to Fire District guys."

"Yeah, but you play lax!"

"But they play _football_," Sokka ennunciated. "Big difference. Way bigger muscles. I'm faster, but they're more yoked. Forgive me if I don't really feel like getting my ass handed to me."

"But you have to!" I said. "I need all of you to make this plan work! Prom's gonna be here before we know it!"

"I've got it," Sokka said. "Katara's gonna go talk to Hahn."

Katara snapped her head up. "What?" She had had her head buried in a book all morning.

"You're going to be the one to talk to Hahn and convince him to join us."

"Why me?"

"You're a girl," Sokka said. "It's the same reason they sent me to talk to Princess Yue. Biology dictates Hahn will be more receptive to you than us."

"I still don't really get it – "

"It's because you have _boobs_," Sokka said, drawing out his words. "Maybe you haven't realized this yet, but that's kind of all guys can think about when talking to a girl. In fact, that's probably what we're thinking about at any given hour of the day. Hahn is no exception."

I really did not like where this conversation was going. Now that Sokka was talking about boobs, it was all I could do to not stare at Katara's chest. She never wore anything slutty, and her entire color palette was shades of blue, but she still had a C-cup rack that was pretty much everything a sophomore in high school could ever ask for. If I looked close, I could see the outline of a black bra underneath her filmy blue shirt. Oh, my God, that body in a little swimsuit…soaking wet…nipples peaking up…

Cue boner.

While Sokka and Katara kept talking, I quickly untucked my T-shirt and reached down to flick my boner up into the band of my boxers. I had never needed to use this instinctive guy skill before I met Katara. Thankfully, they didn't look like they saw anything.

"I mean, I don't see why Hahn will be such a misogynistic asshole as you're painting him out to be," Katara said.

"He plays football, Katara! He's even more thick-headed than I am, just on principle!"

"Well, I mean, he can't be any worse than any of those Fire District dipshits you play lax with – "

"Got that right, sugar."

We spun around and suddenly realized where we were – the isolated math building, which was on its own little island apart from the school. Unmanicured dirt surrounded us in all directions, and the three Fire District girls were walking up to us.

Katara didn't even try being nice now. "What do you want, Azula?"

"What's this I hear about you talking to that bitchy Water District princess?" She called out, walking closer.

Sokka puffed his chest out and yelled, "Her name is Princess Yue to you!" His hand reached back for his lax stick.

"Does this face look like I give a shit?" Mai drawled. She had a point – beneath all the black eyeliner, it really didn't look like she gave a shit.

"You don't _like_ her, do you?" Said the one in pink. Her lips were pouted, and she wore her hair in a long braid.

"Ty Lee, concentrate," Azula snapped. "One of her girls squealed about your whole insurrection plan, and we're here to put a stop to it."

"What," Katara said mockingly, "don't wanna take on Princess Yue herself?"

Azula scowled. "I'm not stupid enough to go fucking with the Princess of the Water District. But for you peasants, I think we can work something out."

She brought up her fists and cracked her knuckles. Ty Lee rolled her neck around and took a step forward, and Mai flicked her arm. A handful of shiny knives suddenly appeared in her fist.

I couldn't help it. "Oh, my God, do you just carry those around?" I gasped.

Mai cocked a smile. "Never know when you need to cut somebody."

Sokka pulled out his lax stick now and swung it around over his head. I took a step forward to protect Katara, but she gently pushed me aside and whispered,

"I started taking martial arts lessons. I should be able to hold my own."

I still wasn't comfortable with this, but it didn't look like we had a choice. The three Fire District bitches walked forward, and Mai had held up her knife to throw the first blow when a loud voice suddenly rocked through the air –

"What the FUCK are you doing in my hood, Azula?"

From the back of the math building, six girls appeared and walked towards us. The one at the head, a fierce-looking beauty with winged eyeliner, pushed us aside and walked right up to Azula.

"I told you," she growled, "to stay out of our turf, you piss-eyed little skank."

Azula's eyebrows lowered. "Yeah, and your girls are a bunch of nappy-headed cock-sucking she-males."

Before I could even think, the girl with winged eyeliner picked up her foot and kicked Azula in the stomach.

Ty Lee and Mai ran forward, but the other five girls rushed forward and, like a machine, took them out. Two of them grabbed Ty Lee's arms behind her back and pulled them back, and the other three snatched Mai's knives out and held them against her neck. The head girl had grabbed Azula by the hair and was dragging her to the main building.

"And if I ever see you over here again, I swear to Jesus, I will rip that fake-ass weave out your head!" She roared. "Then we'll see who's a nappy-headed she-male!"

They threw the three girls back in the building. Sokka, Katara and I looked at each other and were about to celebrate our victory when the girl gang suddenly came up on us.

"And who the fuck do you think you are, bringing those bitches up in our turf?" She yelled at us. We all cowered, though she was only about as tall as Sokka. "You're damn lucky I hate Azula more than you, or it would've been your asses gettin' thrown out the door."

"Who are you?" I managed to stammer.

She grinned through thick red lipstick. "Suki Kyoshi, and we're the Martial Arts Club. Otherwise known as the Kyoshi Warriors."

I couldn't help but stare. From what little I knew of gangs, I knew this was one. They were all wearing the same winged eyeliner, red lipstick, and strangely white faces. The rest of their clothing was normal, but they all wore green bandanas in their hair. Suki, clearly the leader, wore a long black skirt with a slit going straight up to her hip. It would've looked weird on anyone else, but on her it looked suave and fierce. Her hair was short and chunky, and her black boots laced all the way up to her calf.

She was narrowing her eyes at Sokka now. "I know you. You're the forward on the lax team. Hatori."

"Sokka," he said. "This is my sister Katara, and Aang Nomad."

Suki smiled, and she looked way less intimidating when she did that. "You must be the new kid. From the Air District."

"Yep," I said. Then an idea popped into my head. "Hey! What District are you girls from?"

"Earth District," Suki replied, "why?"

"Will you vote for me for Prom King?"

There was silence for a moment.

"Da fuck?" Suki asked.

* * *

At lunch, Sokka, Katara and I headed over to the martial arts room of the gym, where we found the Kyoshi Warriors in various states of training. Some of them kicked at dummies, some of them sparred against each other. Suki was just finishing up a ham and cheese sandwich, wrapping her knuckles and wrists in tape as she did so.

"Hey!" Katara called out.

She looked up and smiled. "Y'all came! What's up?"

"Nothing much," Sokka said, as we sat down beside her. "This is a cool place you guys have here!"

"Well, we win Nationals almost every year, so the school forks up cash to keep it up. We're also one of the few all-girl martial arts clubs in the nation, so we get a lot of publicity. People are all up on our dick," she smirked.

"Well, we don't want to interrupt your training," I said.

"S'all good," she said, jumping down from her seat and walking over to a nearby punching bag. She'd shed her long black skirt for some booty shorts, but the tall Doc Martens stayed. She began punching the bag with rhythmic jabs. "So what's all this about you running about the Head Asshole Ozai?"

"Well, his dad kinda killed my parents," I said.

Suki stopped and looked me in the eye. "Holy shit, I'm so sorry. That's awful."

"Yeah, it sucks pretty hard," I said. "But we're going to take a stand against him as much as we can, and I'm going to win Prom King so that at least here, he can't be in charge."

"'We've already got Princess Yue and her girls on our side," Katara chimed in.

Suki snorted. "So that's why Azula was after y'all. You know you guys are heading straight for the Mountains of Asskicking?"

"We know that," Sokka said. "But he can't go after everyone in the school – "

"Probably could," Suki muttered.

"And anyway, we've all been working on our martial arts so we can survive in a fistfight," he finished.

"Oh really?" She stood up and popped her hip. "Well, alright, tough guy. Show me what you got."

Sokka stared for a moment. Katara and I looked at each other. Was he really gonna do it? This girl probably ate kids like me for breakfast.

Then he screwed up his face and jumped down. "Okay, little girl. Let's do this."

Suki got down in a fighting stance, her ruby-red lips in a closed smile. Sokka bent his knees and held out his fists.

For a moment they hung suspended, just breathing.

Then Sokka struck.

Suki parried his punch easily and lunged forward, punching her fist out towards his chest. Sokka had to step back to block her, but by that time Suki had slashed out with her foot, catching him under the knee. He went down and hit the padding with a thud.

It was over in a few seconds.

Sokka, gasping, scrambled to his feet and saw Suki smiling, some of her choppy brown hair falling forward over her bandana. "I'm sorry, I guess I didn't give you the menu for today."

"Huh?"

"Today, we at the Kyoshi Restaurant are serving up hot whoop ass, with a side of pussy-whipped and a heaping plate of sit-the-fuck-down."

Katara and I started whooping on the side. "Don't worry, Sokka, I'm sure we can find you a nice burn center nearby!" Katara yelled.

Sokka, his face a furious red, got back in his fighting stance. "I am not losing to a girl," he grumbled.

Suki raised an eyebrow and crouched low again. "Tell me how that goes for you."

Sokka struck first again, but Suki easily sideswiped him and struck him in the back with her elbow. While he fell down, she jabbed her knee into his chest, and then flipped him onto his back.

While he lay there, gasping for breath, Suki leaned over and said casually, "Good thing I shaved down south this morning, 'cause boy, you are sucking my cock right now."

"You don't have a cock!" Sokka yelled, and then jumped back up. This time, he caught her by surprise, and pushed her all the way back against the other side of the gym with his punches. The other Kyoshi Warriors were watching the fight intently. Sokka was aiming for body shots now, his face screwed up in concentration, about to –

Suki caught both his hands in hers.

I leaned over to see that she was slightly out of breath. "Alright, Hatori," she said, "not bad. Not bad at all."

Sokka stood up and smiled as he sauntered back over to us. Suki rolled out her shoulders and followed him.

"So, what do you say, Suki?" I asked. "Are you and your girls gonna vote for me?"

She sighed and leaned one hand against the railing. "I don't know. It's risky."

"What's risky about it?" I said. "You're the martial arts club, you don't have to be afraid of Ozai! You could kick his ass any day!"

She shook her head. "It's more complicated than that, kid. The girls and I have gotten along great at this school by keeping our heads down, not causing trouble. Next year, I've got a scholarship to go back to the Earth District and study martial arts at the university near my hometown. It's contingent on good conduct and good grades. A lot of us have scholarships like that. This whole little rebellion of yours could put all that at risk. Besides, I'm out of here next year. What do I care if Ozai is Prom King again?"

"Are any of your girls underclassmen?" Katara said.

"Yeah, a few are juniors and sophomores."

"Do it for them," Katara said. Her voice had taken on that emotional speech tone that Sokka and I knew so well. "If we don't take a stand now, then the reign of terror of this school will continue. Ozai and Azula already have their successors picked out. It's a vicious cycle that won't end until _we_ do something about it."

"I can't do it without you," I said. "Don't you want to see Azula go down?"

"You're going after her too?"

"Sure am. Katara's gonna be Prom Queen instead of her."

Katara gave a little gasp and her whole face went white. I didn't have time to react, because Suki had turned to her girls. For a gang of martial artists, they all looked pretty damn scared.

She turned back to us and shook her head. "Look, we'll talk about it, okay?"

I was about to protest, but Katara threw her hand over my mouth. "That's all we can ask for. Thanks so much, Suki."

Suki nodded. "You're aight, girl. Come sit with us whenever you want."

We smiled and headed out. Sokka's eyes lingered for a while on Suki's winged eyes before heading back out into the sunshine.

"Goddamn it!" I snapped.

"What?" Katara asked.

"What? She has to 'think about it'! We don't have time for people to think about it! We need answers now!"

"Aang, calm down," she said. "We're asking a lot of these people. If Suki's a senior, then she's never voted for anyone else for Prom King in her life. This is a big deal. You just gotta give her time."

I stayed fuming as we walked back towards the main school. Sokka was weirdly quiet too, his eyebrows knit low. Katara looked between both of us with fear in her big blue eyes.

That's when I saw Hahn and his men standing in a circle, laughing loudly at something.

Without even thinking, I stormed up to them and tapped Hahn on the shoulder.

He turned around and looked down at me with his small blue eyes. The guy had at least a foot on me. He brushed back his thick brown hair and said,

"What do you want?"

"My name is Aang Nomad," I said, "and I'd like you to vote for me for Prom King."

"Why the hell would I do that?" He said.

"Because we're overthrowing Ozai. Princess Yue is already going to vote for us – "

His eyes looked up to see Sokka standing behind me. Then he roughly pushed me aside and headed for Sokka.

"_You're_ the dirty Southern peasant who's taking my girl to Homecoming?" He growled.

Sokka planted his feet and raised his fists. Katara and I ran over to stand beside him. "What do you mean, Princess Yue's _your_ girl?"

"My father is one of her father's best generals! I'm supposed to take her to Homecoming, to keep Northern hegemony! Her blood is way too pure for a Southern peasant like yours!"

"Oh, yeah?" Sokka yelled, his voice suddenly deeper. "Hate to break it to you, assface, but your Princess wanted _me_ to take her to Homecoming! She doesn't give a shit how pure my blood is!"

"Also, our father is the Chief of the Southern District!" Katara jumped in. "So we're just as much royalty as Princess Yue is!"

Hahn burst out laughing. "Chief of the Southern District? That's like being the principal of a home school."

Now both Sokka and Katara were pissed. I was the only one who noticed the large crowd of Water District boys who were surrounding us.

"Uh, guys – " I started.

"Last chance," Hahn said, "you tell Yue you're not taking her to Homecoming, and I won't kick your ass."

"That's _Princess_ Yue to you!" Sokka barked. "And no way in fuck am I doing that! I'm taking her to Homecoming and you're going to vote for Aang for Prom King!"

"Okay then," Hahn said, as he cracked his knuckles. "This shouldn't take long."

The circle of Water District boys closed in on us – behind them, at least a third of the school was watching. My stomach sank when I realized it was three on ten. There was no Jet or Zuko or Kyoshi Warriors here to save us. We really were about to get our asses handed to us.

I was about to tell Katara to let me protect her when she threw the first blow – right into Hahn's nuts.

As he went down howling, all hell broke loose. Three guys charged at me, and I had to duck to avoid the blows. I sent body shot after body shot, attempting to get to their nuts like Katara. I snuck glances out of the corner of my eye to see Sokka holding his own, throwing punches like he was a man possessed. I couldn't see Katara, but I really hoped she was –

A fist went straight into my stomach.

I dropped to the ground, heaving for breath, as one of the guys stood over me cackling. I aimed a kick at his knees, but it only made him stumble. He brought back his foot to kick me when a golden fan came out of nowhere to hit him in the temple.

Suddenly, Suki dropped to the ground and looked me in the eyes.

"You're really willing to get your asses kicked for this cause," she said, her voice low.

I nodded.

Then she smiled and stood up.

"Kyoshi Warriors," she yelled, "bring 'em down!"

All six of the warriors rushed into the fight, and suddenly the fight was even. Hahn's men got pushed back as the girls used their impressive skills to take them out. I finally got to see Katara and found her aiming quick, light punches to the men, her eyebrows drawn low and chunks falling out of her long braid. She saw me looking and flashed me a quick smile.

Before too long, we'd pushed Hahn and the men back against the cafeteria wall. Now almost the whole school was watching. Suki drop-kicked Hahn in the face and he went down on his knees.

Through a big black eye, he looked up and yelled, "Kyoshi, what the fuck are you doing?"

"I'm voting for Aang for Prom King!" She yelled. My heart swelled. "And if you assholes have an ounce of human dignity, you will too!

"Come on, girls," she said, turning around, "our work is done."

We turned on our heels and headed off. For a brief moment I thought I saw a pair of golden eyes among the crowd. But they vanished, and I followed Suki with bloody knuckles and more hope than I'd felt in a while.

Once we reached the gym, Suki turned to us and cocked that beautiful smile. "Gotta hand it to ya. I didn't think y'all were willing to take on a bunch of football jocks just to win Prom King."

"It's more than Prom King," I said. "It's what winning represents. We're taking a stand against the Fire District douchebaggery, even if it's just in one way. And we need all the help we can get."

Suki looked to the group of warriors and said, "Waddya say, ladies?"

As one, they brought their hands into their chests, fists pressed against flat palms. And they all bowed as one to me.

"You've got the Kyoshi Warriors' vote," Suki said with a smile. "And we've got your back. That asshole comes around again lookin' for a fight, just holler. We'll be there."

She shook her head. "I'm a fighter by nature, but it's been a long time since I've had something worth fighting for. Maybe we can do something about this school."

"It's worth a shot," Katara said, her face split in a wide smile.

Suki looked over at Sokka and gave the smallest of winks. And then Sokka could only grin and wink back.

* * *

The room was dark. Ozai pulled out a lighter and lit up a cigarette, the glowing red the only light in the dark room.

"Did you hear that?" he growled. "That Air District kid and those Water peasants are running against me. I can't believe this. No one has _ever_ run against me."

"They're not going to win," Zuko said. "Making the Martial Arts club vote for them won't do anything."

"You're damn right they're not gonna win," Ozai snapped. He exhaled and smoke filled the room. "Cause we're gonna make sure of that."

He turned to the other boy in the room. "I trust you've got some batshit crazy ideas for bringing these kids down."

Zhao smiled. "Don't worry, boss. I'll take care of them – General Azulon style."

Ozai exhaled his last draw and put the cigarette out on the back of his hand.

* * *

**Wazzup? So I was going to update yesterday, but I got a concussion. Shit happens. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed Suki and her band of bad bitches (props to WindSpiral for guessing correctly). I grew up in Southern Arizona, so she was inspired by the _cholas_ that were at my high school. Also because every story needs at least one ghetto hoodrat.**

**Also, just in case anyone's hoping for an epic bending battle in the end - I'm sorry but it's not gonna happen. Too much would be going on in this story if there was bending too. They're just normal, hormonal high schoolers.**

**Next chapter: What are the Homecoming Couples? If it feels like I'm rushing, that's cause after Homecoming I can introduce Toph, which, let's face it, is the real reason I write Avatar fanfiction :) Please Please Review! yip yip - PVB**


	7. An Offer You Can't Refuse

**Chapter Seven – An Offer You Can't Refuse**

* * *

A week later and the three of us were sitting outside, close to the intercom speaker. Katara was wringing her hands while Sokka and I fucked around.

"Earth beats Air," Sokka said.

"You kidding? Air beats Earth. Earth can't do shit to Air."

"Okay, fine. Water beats Air."

"Nope. I'm telling you, dude, nothing beats Air."

"You're prejudiced because you're from the Air District."

"Obviously the best district."

"When are they going to announce it?" Katara said, her voice a low moan. "I'm going crazy over here."

Sokka and I looked at each other. We would normally soothe her by saying 'Of course you'll be on the Homecoming Court!' But truth was, we had no idea if she'd be on the Homecoming Court.

"Calm down, Katara," I said, patting her back. "Homecoming Court doesn't matter anyway, cause you're going to win Prom Queen!"

Katara shook her head and didn't say anything. We sat in silence for a few moments until –

"Attention students."

Katara sat up like her spine had been replaced with an iron rod.

"We have recently tallied the votes for Homecoming Court. Your nominees are – "

"Oh God," Katara whispered.

"Azula Agni – "

"Obviously," I muttered.

"Ty Lee Tjong…Mai Lau…"

"Yeah, we know all that," Katara whispered.

"And Yue Misong."

Katara's shoulders slumped. Sokka and I reached over to hug her.

"Cheer up," I said softly, "it doesn't matter. You're better than any of those bitches."

"I know," she said, her voice absurdly sad. "But still…"

"I'm sorry," the voice on the loudspeaker came back on. "I forgot our last nominee."

The three of us sat straight up.

"Katara Hatori."

She literally jumped up and screamed. Sokka and I looked at each other, grins on each of our faces.

"Yes! Yes! YES!" Katara yelled. Everyone around us was staring. "YES YES YES!"

Then she turned back to us, her eyes so big and happy. "How did this happen? I didn't think anybody in this school knew me!"

"I have no idea," Sokka said. "Wait a minute – "

Princess Yue and her coterie were walking by. Katara turned and caught Princess Yue's eye. Princess Yue gave a significant wink, her mouth in a small smile, before walking into the main building.

"Princess Yue," Katara whispered. "She used her power to get me on the ticket."

"I have the best Homecoming Date ever," Sokka said proudly.

"Oh no!" Katara said. "I don't have a date! Who am I going to go with? I can't go alone!"

I wanted to say 'Me', but at that moment, a booming voice cut across the courtyard.

"I have the most beautiful girlfriend in the world, and all of you should come see her!"

"Goddamn it," Sokka and Katara said as one.

"What?"

They just beckoned me forward. Already a large crowd was gathering around one of the tables. Ozai and Azula stood atop the table, where Azula was putting on a good show of blushing and looking adorable. The whole group of Fire District kids stood below, including Zuko, Ty Lee and Mai. There was also a kid with a ridiculous beard who looked way too old to be in high school.

"Azula," Ozai began, "I am honored every day to be in the presence of such beauty. And I have no doubt that you will win Homecoming Queen for the fourth year in a row!"

"Oh, sweetheart, thank you," Azula simpered.

Beside me, Sokka pantomimed puking.

"That's why I would like to humbly ask – "

He pulled out a giant papier mache heart and a lighter. With a dramatic flare, he lit the heart and then tossed it up in the air, where it promptly exploded in a shower of sparks.

"If you will accompany me to the Homecoming Dance?"

"Doesn't seem very humble to me," said a voice from beside us. We turned to see a tall Earth District kid with a whole lot of hair staring ahead at the scene with a crease between his eyes.

"Oh, Ozai, I would love to!" Azula cried, as she grabbed him by the neck and proceeded to eat his face.

"Ugh," I said. "Do they do this every year?"

The Earth District kid nodded. "And it's disgusting."

"Come on," Sokka said, "let's get out of here."

We headed into the main hall, where the Earth kid followed us. Katara had her eyes on his strong jawline.

"I'm Katara," she said. "What's your name?"

"Katara Hatori? You just got on the Homecoming Court!" He said.

She blushed.

"I'm Haru," he said with a smile. "I think we're in the same Chemistry class!"

She nodded. I was starting to get the same boiling in my stomach that I had gotten when she was hanging around Jet.

Sokka apparently didn't share my sentiments. He stretched forward a hand. "I'm her brother Sokka. And this is Aang."

He shook Sokka's hand and then mine. He had a really warm smile, but I still wanted to punch him in the nuts. "It's a pleasure to meet one of the last Air District men."

I just nodded. He turned back to Katara and smiled.

"I'd better get to class, but it was nice to meet you!"

"Same to you!" Katara said. Haru headed off down the hall, with Katara staring after him.

_Goddamn it_, I thought.

That week, Haru showed up more and more often. He chatted with Katara by her locker before classes, and he walked back with her from Chemistry as they laughed about academic jokes that I had no chance of understanding. One day he even sat with us at lunch, and he made Sokka and Katara laugh. He and Katara made eyes at each other a little too often.

The worst part about it was that I couldn't find anything wrong with Haru. He was kind, funny, noble, and not a douchebag. He didn't try to get in Katara's pants and definitely wouldn't get her drunk, which was awful for me. I had a reason for hating Jet, cause he was a dick. But the only thing wrong with Haru was that he was courting the girl that I loved.

_Better ask her to the dance quick_, I thought.

* * *

On Thursday morning, Azula laid down the law.

The car screeched to a stop, and Zuko turned to her. "What the fuck?"

"Listen to me, little bro," she said, her voice this weird combination of pageant queen and rabid tiger. "The dance is on Saturday. Ask Mai today."

"Alright, Jesus, I'll do it," he said, starting to get out. Azula locked all the doors with a click.

"_What_?" He said.

"She's expecting it. And you know who else is expecting it? Dad."

"You told _Dad_?"

"Mai's father is a ridiculously important general. Dad relies on him for his military campaigns. You taking Mai to the dance is a political necessity. And if you don't, Daddy might give you another scar."

Zuko scowled and hopped over the door of the convertible. "You're crazy, you know that?"

Azula winked at him. "Love you, Zuzu."

And she drove away. Zuko groaned aloud and went to find Mai. Better get this over with.

He headed for the senior patio where she had her locker and found her just coming out of the girl's bathroom, stowing a pack of cigarettes in her voluptuous trench coat and reeking of smoke.

"You're not supposed to smoke in school," he said.

She looked up at him, a solid inch of eyeliner on her black eyes. "Zuko, I clearly don't give a flying fuck about not smoking in school. Now stop wasting my time. What do you want?"

At least she was making it easy. "Will you go to the Homecoming Dance with me?"

She blinked. "Aren't I supposed to get roses or some bullshit like that?"

"Uhh…I'll buy you three packs of cigarettes and bring them to the dance?"

Suddenly Mai cocked a smile. "Deal."

A flash of pink came skidding through and rammed right into Mai.

"_Ow_ – Jesus, Ty Lee, what is wrong?"

"Did you already ask her to the dance?" She said to Zuko.

"Yeah, just did."

"Damn it!" She said. Her flirty, breathy voice was strained. "I still don't have a date!"

"Yes, you do, Zhao asked you."

"But he's _creepy_," she said. "I'm worried he's gonna roofie me at the afterparty."

"Come on," Mai said, a twinge of feeling in her voice, "you know Ozai and Azula want you to go with Zhao. You don't want to piss them off."

Zuko couldn't stop himself. "Azula controls you guys too?"

The girls turned to stare at him. For some reason, Mai was smiling.

"Did Azula make you ask me?"

"No! I mean…I kinda…I would've…"

Mai just laughed. "Don't worry, loverboy. I don't care."

But her black eyes lingered on his face for just a moment too long before turning to Ty Lee.

"Sweetie, you'll be fine. Ozai's a dick, but he won't let Zhao daterape you. I'll bring my knives, okay? Will that make you feel better?"

Ty Lee nodded. "I just wish I could wear my cheer uniform. It's much easier for me to beat people up in it."

Mai ignored that comment, though Zuko was still reeling. "It's just one dance. Maybe you can go with someone else to Prom. That's what really matters."

Ty Lee flashed her trademark smile. "Thanks, guys. You are going to be so cute at the dance!"

Both of them made gagging sounds in their throats. Zuko looked at Mai and thought for the first time that this might not be a bad night.

"Camel Lights," Mai said. "Be at my house at 8 sharp. And if you're not wearing black, I will cut your dick off."

* * *

After school on Thursday, Sokka caught up with Princess Yue just as she was getting in her car, a pearly blue Mustang.

"Hey, Princess!"

She turned around, keys in her hand, and giggled. "Sokka, seriously. Call me Yue."

"It just doesn't feel right," he said.

"You're a Prince too. I should be calling you Prince Sokka."

"Oh, Jesus…no, girl, you've got about ten times more class than I'll ever have."

She smiled, and then her eyes widened. "Sokka, what happened to your neck?"

Her gentle fingers reached up to touch a yellowing bruise underneath his ear.

"Oh, that…I kinda got in a fight a week ago."

"With who?"

"Hahn."

Yue sighed and leaned against the hood. Her white denim skinny jeans were almost reflective in the light. "It was about taking me to the dance, wasn't it."

"Kinda, yeah."

"It's all political. My father would have wanted me to go with Hahn, because his father is very important in my tribe. It's like all of us are little chesspieces in their big game."

"But you went with me," Sokka said, feeling more like a man than he ever had in his life.

Yue smiled. "I convinced him that it would be good form to begin diplomatic relations between our sister tribe in the South. Your father is just as important as Hahn's father after all."

Sokka looked away, into the burning sun just sinking over the horizon. "I haven't seen my dad in a few years. He's in the army, somewhere deep in the Earth District. I think he's trying to get close enough to try and stop the Fire District hegemony. He left Katara and I to look after the tribe."

"Sokka, I'm so sorry."

"Maybe it was good for me. It certainly made me grow up faster. I mean, Katara's always been the mom, but…I'm just petrified something's going to happen to her, you know?" He shook his head. "I don't know what I'm blabbering about. I came here to ask what color of corsage you'd like."

Yue giggled. "I told you, purple."

"Yeah, but what _shade_ of purple?"

"You know about different shades?"

"…Of course I do."

He hesitated just long enough for Yue to cock a smile. "Did Katara tell you to ask me that?"

"Yep."

She giggled again. "Well, I can't really expect anything more. My dress is lavender, you know what that is?"

"Of course I do!"

Yue raised her eyebrows.

"No fucking idea."

"Ask Katara."

Sokka nodded eagerly, and Yue just shook her head, all of her curly white hair shaking. "You know, Sokka, I think this is shaping up to be a fantastic Homecoming Dance."

"I think so too."

She clicked her remote and the doors opened. "Come get me at 7:45. I live in Whitefields, 1645 North Frost Road. You'll have to talk to my father before you can take me, but I think he'll like you."

"Uh…Yue?"

"Yeah?"

"I, uh…I don't have a car."

He tried to not blush, but Yue just smiled. "I know, silly. I'll drive."

Sokka released the breath he'd been holding. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"I try," she said with a wink. "Oh, and one last thing."

"Yeah?"

She leaned over and caught him in a kiss. Sokka felt his eyes close and felt like he would never be this happy again.

Then she broke apart and got into her driver's seat, a furious blush over her cheeks. "See you tomorrow, Prince Sokka!"

"Bye, Yue!" He said, as she drove off.

He couldn't stop himself from punching the air.

* * *

Friday morning came and I couldn't put it off any longer. I made a big pretense of shaving while I was in the bathroom, but all that happened was a bunch of soft peach fuzz and one weirdly long black hair came off my chin. Momo sat on the bathroom counter and silently judged me.

Grandfather and I left super early so I could pick up a giant bouquet of blue flowers (I didn't know what they were – tulips? Hydrangeas? Roses? I couldn't tell the difference) along with some soft white flowers that Grandfather said were called 'baby's breath'. I arrived at school half an hour before the bell, the usual time that Katara got there, to finally ask her to Homecoming.

I found her by her locker in the junior corridor, writing in her planner with one hand and twiddling with her long braid in the other. I quickly ducked into the entrance to the bathroom so I could watch her. She had her tongue stuck out like she always did when she was concentrating.

_There's no way she's gonna go for a guy like me_.

I shook my head and gripped tight to my flowers. You've been there for this girl more than anyone, I told myself. It doesn't matter that she's ten times hotter than you'll ever be.

I really wished I had some hair. Maybe she'd pay more attention to me if I had hair. All the other guys had hair.

Ah, fuck! You gotta do it! Do you love this girl or not?

But I still hesitated, standing by the bathroom holding a bouquet of flowers looking like a stalker. I kept telling myself that I'd do it the next second, the next second, the next second. But while I hesitated, someone walked right by and headed for Katara.

It was Haru.

My stomach clenched painfully and I did not like where this was going.

"Hey, Katara!" He said. He was holding a pot of something steaming.

She looked up and smiled. "Hey, Haru! How'd you do on the chemistry homework? I swear to God, Mr. Bumi is insane! What is that?"

"Well, I think you'll know," he said with a smile. He magically pulled out a bowl and spoon and ladled her some. When she took the bowl, her face burst in delight.

"Stewed sea prunes! My favorite! Oh, Haru, how did you know?"

"I took out some books on Water District food at the library," he said. "I figured you'd like some taste of home, since you're so far away."

What the fuck? I didn't know anything about Katara's culture, besides the stuff in Iroh's class. I felt like a goddamned idiot, watching this tall, informed guy totally winning Katara's heart. I wanted to run up and give her my flowers, but I couldn't move. The scene was like a train wreck – as much as I wanted to, I couldn't stop watching.

Katara gulped down the stew, and Haru brushed a drop of it off her chin, which made her giggle.

"Katara, there's another reason why I came here today," he said.

_Oh no oh no oh no!_

"Yeah?"

"I know we've only known each other for a week, but you have completely enchanted me. I think you're beautiful, smart and brave. Would you go with me to the Homecoming Dance? It would be an honor to escort the Princess."

My entire body sank. The shining in her eyes told me the answer before her mouth did.

"Yes, Haru," she said, "I'd love to go to the dance with you!"

Haru beamed at her, his rugged face seeming to match hers perfectly. That guy had no shortage of hair.

Godfuckingdamn it.

I left the bathroom and walked like a zombie back to Sokka, still clutching my flowers. I found him playing a game on his phone when I walked up.

"Sokka," I said, surprised at how dead my voice sounded, "I need a date to Homecoming."

He looked up, saw the flowers, and understood immediately. But thankfully he didn't comment on it. "It's no big deal. I went stag to Homecoming my sophomore year. Actually, I've gone stag to every dance except this one…"

"Yeah, but I'm running for Prom King, so this dance is imperative to my image. I can't be seen without a date."

"Well, don't you know any other girls?"

"No," I said, thinking hard. "Wait! Yes!

And I took off running.

I ended up at the martial arts room fifteen minutes before the bell. The other Kyoshi Warriors waved at me, and I waved back and headed for the corner, where Suki was finishing her dramatic makeup. She smiled when I rolled up.

"What's up, shortstuff?"

"I'm not short!" I protested. "I'm five-nine!"

She gave me a once-over.

"Okay, whatever, I'm five-eight, I'm gonna have a growth spurt soon. Listen, Suki, I need your help."

"What's up?"

"Are you going with anyone to the dance tomorrow?"

She burst out laughing. "Are you kidding? Kyoshi Warriors don't _go_ with anyone. It's tradition that we all go together, no men allowed."

"Oh. Okay." There was a sinking in my stomach that had been going on since I saw Haru walk up to Katara.

Suki gave me a sad smile. "Did someone already ask Katara?"

"How did you know?" I said.

"Everybody knows, dipshit. It's written all over your face."

I tried to stop blushing and ended up plopping down on the bleachers beside her. "Goddamn it. I don't have a chance at getting her or any girl."

Suki sighed and put down her makeup. "Listen to me, kid. You ever play poker?"

"No, Grandfather doesn't approve of gambling."

"Of course not," she muttered. "Okay, well, the point is to play the hand you're dealt."

"Okay…?"

"Aang, you've got something no other girl here has got."

"Really? What?"

"A sob story," she said.

I stared at her, bewildered.

"Now hear me straight, kid," she said. "The Fire Nation are a bunch of dicks and what they did to you is inexcusable. I feel that. My parents were in the insurrection and have been in jail since I was a little girl. That's why I took up martial arts, to defend myself. You're never gonna hear me say what the Fire Nation has done is okay.

"But let's do a tally." She picked up her fingers and began ticking them off. "Your parents are dead. You barely escaped with your life. You are a ward of the government. You are the last hope for the continuation of your culture."

"I don't see how this is making me feel better," I said.

"Don't you see? Girls _eat that shit up_," she enunciated. "Bitches love to go for what's exotic, different, broken. You tell any girl that you're the last of the Air District and that if this goes well she could be responsible for repopulating an entire fucking culture, her panties are dropping like Ozai's sperm count from jacking off too much. Even I'm getting into it. I'd go with you if my girls wouldn't beat the shit out of me."

"You're saying I should use my history to get a date?"

"Take a look around your classes," Suki said. "Odds are, there's some girl there that's got a secret boner for you. Play your Air District cards right, and sugar, you've got a date and maybe a good makeout sesh too."

I stood up, some renewed faith in my chest. "Thanks, Suki, you're the shit."

"I know," she said with a wink. "See ya at the dance, shortstuff."

I headed out of the gym with a new outlook. Maybe Suki was right. Maybe this could work out.

At first it didn't look very hopeful. The girls in my classes, like most sophomore girls, were utterly terrified of the male species and cut a wide swath around me and all other guys. I went through the first three periods still with the blue flowers in my backpack, almost taunting me. _Damn right you can't get a date, you bald loser._

But in Professor Zei's class, we were talking about the Air District.

"And can anyone tell us the rationale behind the height at which the Air District temples were placed?"

I inwardly sighed. I knew, and maybe some other people did, but they were usually too shy to answer, which meant that I awkwardly had to answer every time, which made me look like a tool.

But a girl answered. "It was believed to the Air Nomads that the height of the temple would symbolize their detachment from worldly desires. It was also a defensive mechanism, to protect them from ground attacks. That's the reason why many Air Temples are still standing despite the genocide."

Professor Zei nodded. "Very good, Meng! Now can you tell us how many there were?"

"Four, Professor. One for each of the cardinal directions."

"Excellent," he said, turning his eye to me. "Would you mind sharing which Temple you hailed from?"

Normally I would have balked and muttered it under my breath, but today I said, "My family was from the foot of the Southern temple."

I snuck a glance over. The girl, Meng, was looking at me with a smile.

I realized with a start that Suki was right.

I watched Meng for the rest of class. She was tiny, with no boobs or butt to speak of, and the pink-purple outfit she had on looked like it came from Baby Gap. She had brown hair so frizzy it stuck out a mile in each direction and really big front teeth, but she was cute and sweet and frankly I didn't have any other options.

So after class, I ran up and walked beside her.

She turned to me and blushed a little. "Hey, Aang! Did you, uh…did you like the lesson today?"

"Loved it," I said. "Hey, Meng, listen. I know we don't really know each other, but…but…"

Jesus Christ, even when I was asking a girl I had no feelings for, this was _hard_.

I pulled out the flowers with what I hoped was a sexy flourish and stammered out, "Will you go to Homecoming with me?"

Everyone around us stopped and stared. Meng blushed and gave a truly adorable smile.

"Yes, Aang, I'd love to!"

Oh, thank God. I deflated a little. Suddenly my whole life was cleared up. "Great! Great! Yes! Okay. What color is your dress?"

"Uh, it's pink."

Could've called that one. "Okay, great. You like roses? I'll get you roses. Where do you live? My grandfather and I will come pick you up, okay?"

"Uh…okay? Here…" she pulled out her phone and took down my number. She had very big brown eyes. "I'll text you my address."

"Great," I said. It was a strange feeling, looking at her. This was a cute girl who could have been the best girl in the world – but she wasn't _my_ girl. There was nothing either of us could do about it. I just wanted to show this girl a good time. Maybe show Katara that I could have a good time.

"I'm excited," she said, scuffing her feet. "I've thought you were cute all year."

"Really?" I said. "Even though I'm bald?"

She nodded and smiled.

My face started to get hot, so I said, "I gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright! Bye, Aang!"

I ducked outside and leaned up against a brick wall. My chest was heaving like I'd run a marathon.

Oh, my God, asking girls out was _awful_. What the fuck? Why didn't girls have to do this? My God, those bitches had it so easy. Sit in your room and sift through all your dates from suitors while we lose our manhood trying to impress you guys. Jesus Christ.

I silently reminded myself that girls had periods, but having no real idea what that entailed besides some sort of savage tribal sacrifice ritual that girls performed in bathrooms involving small torture devices and large quantities of blood, I still thought guys had the shit end of the stick.

When Grandfather picked me up after school that day, he turned to me with the smile of someone waiting for the newest installment of the latest soap opera.

"Well? What did she say?"

"I didn't ask her," I said, flopping down in the seat.

"What?"

"That guy Haru asked her before I could. She said yes."

"Oh, Aang," he said, gently patting my leg, "I'm so sorry."

I shrugged. "I got a date though. A girl in my Ancient Cultures class named Meng. She's sweet, you'll like her."

"I'm sure I will," he said, as we pulled up to a red light. "The question is, will you?"

I shrugged.

"Aang, just because this girl is not Katara does not mean that she doesn't deserve to have a great night with you. You asked her, and now you have to do your best to not make her feel like a second option."

I nodded. The more that I thought about it, the more that I felt like Homecoming was something to get over and done with.

Grandfather noticed my quiet and said, "Tell you what. How about we go to the Jasmine Dragon for some dinner?"

I sat up and nodded with a smile. The Jasmine Dragon was a restaurant just around the corner from our house. When we first moved in and had nowhere to go, the Jasmine Dragon was sort of our second home. We went several times a week. But we hadn't gone in a while. I think Grandfather's duties as a cultural advisor were difficult for him.

"That'll be so nice!" I said. "Wish we could have brought Appa like we did that one time."

Grandfather rolled his eyes. "I swear, that dog almost got us arrested."

I laughed and we pulled up.

One of the servers, a sweet girl named Jin, recognized us immediately and sent us to a great booth. She brought out drinks without having to ask us – hot tea with honey for Grandfather, a Sprite for me.

"Why haven't you guys been in a while?" She said, as she pulled out her pad. "I miss you. You were my favorite customers."

"Sorry, Jin," Grandfather said with a smile. "Life catches up with you, I guess."

"Well, I'm glad to have you back, at any rate. The usual, guys?"

"Yes, please," we said together. She winked, took the menus and walked away. We started talking pretty quickly, as I asked Grandfather about his new job in the government. I always loved hearing his opinions, and he told me all about what he was doing to maintain Air District culture. I asked him about Water District culture, and he smiled and told me some facts about their traditions and maybe could help me score with Katara.

That curvy waitress with the brown braid sure reminded me of Katara.

"A Caesar salad with no chicken, a chicken finger plate, and the baby-back ribs? Is that all?"

Dang, she really sounded like her too.

Then the waitress turned around and looked me in the eyes. I couldn't help it.

"Katara!" I screamed.

She gasped and ducked her head. But by that time, everyone had turned around to look at us, and Grandfather had turned around and smiled at her.

"Hello, Katara!"

Her face bright red, she slowly edged to my table.

"Hi, Aang," she said softly.

"What are you doing here? I didn't know you worked here! This is our favorite restaurant!"

Seeing her not in blue was weird. She was wearing the Jasmine Dragon's green t-shirt, which fit her curves really well, dark jeans, and a pair of black tennis shoes. An apron with a notepad hanging out of it was slung around her hips.

"Hi, Mr. Nomad," she said with a smile at Grandfather.

"Why didn't you tell me you worked here?" I said, not letting her get me distracted.

She wrinkled her lips up and exhaled deeply through her nose. "It's…I mean…nobody else at school has to work."

"Why do you have to work?" I said. Grandfather shot me a look, but I really didn't understand. Katara was blushing even deeper.

"We need to pay rent, Aang. We get money from home for tuition, but we pay for food and rent and everything else ourselves by working on the weekends. Sokka's down at the BBQ place around the corner."

"Oh," I said, suddenly understanding. She met my eyes, her blue eyes filled with just enough shame.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with having to work to survive," Grandfather said. "It's one of the greatest events in our adult life. I started work when I was sixteen and only stopped when I came here and the government provided for mine and Aang's needs. Even Aang worked at the ice cream shop in the summers."

I nodded and smiled.

"Being able to say that you support yourself gives a human a sense of pride that cannot be taken away, and that is something that no one else at school can say, my dear Katara."

She finally smiled and fidgeted with her hair. "Thanks, Mr. Nomad. Most of the time it's not so bad. Everyone here is really nice. Just…don't tell anyone, will you?"

"Of course not," I said. "Your secret's safe with me."

She smiled and went off to serve her other tables. The rest of the night passed without another word between us, but when Grandfather and I left, she caught my eye and gave me a beautiful smile. I found myself, for the first time, really looking forward to Homecoming.

* * *

**Howdy guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! It's a bit of a hodgepodge, but there were a lot of sub-plots and character developments that I wanted to get in before Homecoming. This also goes down as the second-longest chapter I've ever written for fanfiction (which is saying something), so I'm sorry for that! Next chapter is finally Homecoming! So please hit me up some reviews and I'll get it to you as fast as I can! Mucho amor - PVB**


	8. Moonrise (The Homecoming Dance)

**Chapter Eight – Moonrise (The Homecoming Dance)**

* * *

One of the perks of being a ward of the government was that they felt so guilty that they'd let the Fire District kill most of us that they gave us so much money we had no idea what to do with it. So on the day of Homecoming, Grandfather and I rolled out to get dressed to the nines. Since it was only Homecoming and not Prom, I didn't need to wear a tux, but we still got a smart black suit with a pink shirt and white tie, which the flamboyantly gay sales attendant proclaimed was 'just spectacular – oh, the ladies will be all a-tither'. Then we went to the flower shop and Grandfather worked the forgetful elderly man angle for the reason why we were ordering a corsage the day of the dance. The shop attendant, who thought Grandfather was some adorable puppy or something, whipped up a sweet little corsage, a whole budding pink rose with some white daisies and ribbon on a sparkly pink elastic ribbon. Then she created a similar pink rose for me, sans daisies, for which I was very grateful. Sokka would already give me enough shit for the pink.

Nevertheless, as I blasted B.o.B. in the room, jamming out as I showered and shaved and finally got dressed up, I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn't help but smile. It was one of the first times in my life that being bald didn't seem to be that big of a deal. The suit was just stacked. I held my little box of flowers, nestled on white tissue paper, and couldn't wait to see Meng (read: Katara).

Meng didn't live too far away, and Grandfather drove there in just enough time. Even though I hadn't asked him too, he wore regular clothes instead of his monk's robes, and looked like a very competent grandfather. The two of us walked up to the door and I rang the doorbell.

A man with big front teeth and a virtual afro of hair opened the door and beamed. "You must be Aang! Welcome!"

Jesus, there's the family resemblance, I thought, as I shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Li. This is my grandfather, Gyatso Nomad. He'll be our ride."

The men introduced themselves and Mr. Li escorted us into the living room. The room had a distinct lack of feminine touch – there was hardly a color besides blue and brown.

Mr. Li noticed me looking. "Meng's mother walked out on us five years ago," he said matter-of-factly, "and her older brother is in college in the Earth District. It's just the two of us."

"Oh," I said, not knowing what to say. That explained so much.

"Aang!"

I turned and saw Meng on the staircase. I gasped.

_Pink._

It kind of looked like an elephant had digested an entire tub of pink food coloring and then vomited it up on her dress. She looked like a flaming, fuchsia cupcake. A big fuchsia bow in her hair, layers on layers of fuchsia tulle, a rhinestoned fuchsia bag, and, just peeking out, fuchsia shoes.

Holy fucking shit.

She took my speechlessness as a good sign and walked down towards me with a small smile. My brain was reeling. Holy shit, this was ridiculous. My eyes almost hurt looking at her. I mean, she could have at least specified fucking _fuchsia_. I'm not such a dumbass to not know what that is. At least we could have both looked like pink elephant vomit, instead of me in pale pink and her in the exhaust fumes from Barbie's pink Jeep.

"Meng," I said, "you look…I mean, you look…"

Her big brown eyes stared right at me, waiting for my response. And after my eyes adjusted from the pink monstrosity, I began to notice other things. She really had a gift for makeup. Her shimmering eyeshadow really highlighted the gold tones of her eyes, and her soft seashell-pink lipgloss almost had me wanting to kiss her. Her jewelry was very delicate, just some heart-shaped diamond studs and a diamond teardrop pendant. When she closed her lips and smiled, she had the most adorable dimples I'd ever seen.

"Beautiful," I finished, completely honest.

She absolutely beamed, and her father behind her looked like this was the happiest moment of his life. She gasped when she saw the corsage and proclaimed it 'perfect,' and both father figures snapped pictures as I placed it on her wrist. I was terrified about letting this girl near my neck with a pin, but she was surprisingly solid with the boutonnière, pinning it to my lapel in what I assumed was record time.

"You're really good at this," I said.

She gave a crooked smile that was very Katara-esque. "I did pageants."

That explained the fuchsia/rhinestone concoction.

Finally it was time for a few couples pictures – my hand on her tiny hips – and then I was shaking her father's hand and we loaded back into the car. Grandfather, who probably thought he was being unspeakably helpful by not butting in, simply turned the radio on low and stayed quiet.

What actually happened was that Meng and I sat in the backseat in awkward silence for three-fourths of the way there. I saw her looking at me out of the corner of her eye, but whenever I looked back, she snapped her eyes back down. I finally got the courage to say,

"I, uh, really like your jewelry."

"Thanks," she said, fingering her necklace. "They were my mother's. One of the few things she left behind when she headed out."

"Oh," I said. "I'm really sorry, Meng."

"It's okay," she said, clearly trying to salvage the awkwardness. "I mean, you understand, your parents are dead, right?"

I just blinked at her. Meng's entire face slowly turned a shade of fuchsia to rival her dress. I could swear Grandfather was laughing silently in the front seat.

When I heard my phone buzz, I lunged for that shit in the front seat.

_Yo, you guys here yet? K and I are waiting out by the front. Bet your date doesn't look as good as mine!_

"It's Sokka," I said, so relieved that the awkwardness has been broken. "They're there."

"I'm so excited," Meng said. "He's taking Princess Yue, right? She's gorgeous!"

I nodded absentmindedly, but Meng's entire face looked crestfallen, so I backtracked. "I mean, yeah, she's gorgeous, but she's not my type."

She immediately brightened up, and I became aware that this could become a problem.

Then Grandfather pulled up, parked the car, and turned to us with a smile. "Have a great time, guys! Aang, please text me when you're ready to be picked up. Have the time of your life!"

"Thanks, Mr. Nomad!" Meng said brightly, stepping out. I smiled at Grandfather and got out to face the group.

A lot of things probably happened in that instant. The Fire District kids walked by, and the one with big sideburns glared at Yue, completely ignoring his pink-clad date. Meanwhile, Zuko seemed to be completely angry at his whole group, hand clasped tightly to Mai, who looked like a Gothic princess. And above all, Azula glared at us all with a disgustingly superior glance.

None of it mattered, because I had eyes only for Katara.

Her dress was stunning – a filmy, floaty creation in a beautiful teal color I'd never seen on her before. It nipped in at her waist and flared out to hover above her knees. There was – praise Jesus – actual _cleavage_ beneath tiny spaghetti straps. She hadn't done anything special to her hair besides let it down in all its waves and curls, one chunk held behind her hair by a sparkly clip. She was wearing barely any makeup and low silver heels. When she saw me, she grinned and blushed.

I'm not kidding when I'm saying there were no thoughts going through my head. No, _Wow, she's gorgeous_; no, _Jesus, she's so much better than Meng_; no, _What do I have to do to get this girl naked_. I just stared. Which is probably good, because if I had allowed thoughts to go through my mind, I probably would never have given poor Meng the time of day.

As it was, she grabbed my hand and dragged me forward. The whole group came up. "Meng, you look great!" Yue said.

"Oh, thank you!" Meng said, playing it like a champ even though I could hear the bitterness in her voice. "_You_ look great."

Damn right she looked great, but it's not like we expected anything less. Yue's lavender, floor-length gown, trimmed with shimmering white fabric, looked less like a Homecoming dress and more like something off of a Michael Kors runway. Her white hair was piled up in curls on top of her head, and she was even wearing white elbow-length gloves. Sokka, in a lavender tie, looked about as happy as a man could be, with a big purple lily at his bosom.

Hugs and kisses went all around, and I was all diplomacy as I shook Haru's hand. "Nice suit, man," I said.

He gave a roaring laugh. "Yeah, whatever. You're the one looking sharp here."

_You've got the prettier date_, I thought. Then immediately hated myself. Haru did look good though. Somehow, on no time notice, he'd found a matching teal button-up shirt to Katara's dress. I silently loathed Meng and her fuchsia, and hated myself again. Once, when I snuck a look at Katara, she was looking back.

"Alright, fuck this shit," Sokka said, "let's dance!" He grabbed a giggling Yue and ran inside. I held out my hand for Meng and we headed into the main gym, which was decorated with blue and white balloons and a giant banner reading "Dance to the Stars".

"So how does this work?" I asked.

Meng just shrugged, her fingers tight on mine. "I've never been to a school dance before."

"It's kinda stupid," Katara said. She was arm-in-arm with Haru (damn it). "They play music really loud and have some cookies in a corner and you grind."

"What's grinding?"

Katara and Haru burst out laughing, and Meng had an evil smile. "Oh, you'll see, sweetcheeks," she said.

I was about to say something about how this was a really bad idea, but I could no longer hear myself think. The bass thudding out of the dark room was rattling my ribcage.

"What the fu – "

Meng grabbed my hand and dragged me inside.

The music slammed into me, something with a thick bass and indecipherable rap words. The bleachers around the side were set up, sparsely filled with random students talking, and there was a table with refreshments at one end, but the majority of the room was taken up by a giant, pulsing mass of dancing students, pressed so close together I couldn't see how they were breathing. A DJ stood on a platform at one end, next to basses eight feet tall, strobe lights making the entire room feel like an acid trip.

I was terrified. I looked around for Katara, but she and Haru were gone, and Meng was pulling me into the crowd. "Come on, I see Sokka."

"Uh, Meng, this is a bad – "

"AANG!"

Sokka came barreling at me, already sweaty in the face. Yue had a serious case of the giggles. "Isn't this fun?"

"What do you do?" I screamed. It was impossible to hear anything.

Sokka rolled his eyes and said, "If I may, Princess?"

"Oh, please do, Prince," Yue said. The two adjusted themselves to they were both facing forward, her hips pressed against his…his junk.

And then, like a machine, they began to move their hips in unison, back and forth, back and forth, side to side, sweeping in slow circles. Yue's lids were pulled down and a sultry smile was on her lips as this Princess literally ground her butt into Sokka's dick. He had his hands on her hips and looked about ready to pop.

"_That_ is grinding," Meng said.

I stared. Oh, Jesus, what would Grandfather say?

Then another thought popped into my head. Oh, my God, the things I'd be willing to do to be able to do that to Katara.

No! Shake it, Aang!

I looked down at Meng and said, "Wanna try it?"

"Do I ever," she said. Like a pro she pressed a quick hand up and under her skirt, stowing her purse in her corset. Then she grabbed my hands and pulled me close.

"We'll do it front to front at first," she said. Her voice was low, and the bass felt like a heartbeat. I felt her warm hips pressed against mine, even through the layers of tulle. It was beginning to occur to me that Meng might not be the girl I was looking for, but she was a girl, which meant she theoretically, somewhere, possessed boobs and a vagina. Both were things I very much enjoyed.

Slowly, I put my hands on her hips. This music was doing something to me, bringing me down, into this more animalistic state. Meng's legs pressed against my pants and suddenly, without thinking about it, we moved. It came naturally, like rocking a baby to sleep, just side to side, side to side. Our hips swung together with the beat of the drum, the same as everybody on the dance floor. I loosened up my joints and suddenly felt powerful, primal.

"This is awesome," I told Meng.

She smiled with her teeth (bad idea), but I still liked the way that she looked in the strobe lights, the curve of her thin neck. She did that thing with her eyes, what Yue did, where she lowered them partway and looked at me out of her eyelashes (did all girls know how to do this? Where do they learn this shit?). I seized up.

She suddenly flipped so that we were facing front and her butt was _right there_, right in my crotch, and if it wasn't for her fucking tulle skirt, her tiny little butt would've been right on my dick. I pressed my fingers right in her hips and she gracefully raised her arms, linking her fingers behind my head, pressing us even closer together.

"Slow down there, cowgirl!" Sokka called with a whoop, and Meng and I broke apart like we were on fire as Sokka cackled. Yue smacked him, sent us an apology glance, and dragged him off to another corner. I found myself blushing furiously, staring at Meng.

"Wanna go deeper into the circle?" Meng asked boldly.

I hadn't seen Katara in like three minutes. She was probably off doing this same thing with Haru. I pursed my lips and looked Meng up and down. Suki's words rang in my ears.

_Play your Air District cards right, and sugar, you've got a date and maybe a good makeout sesh too._

"Yeah, I do," I said.

We found a random spot on the bleachers were she dumped her purse and I took off my jacket. Like a pro, she quickly reached up and undid my top button, sliding my tie down. Then she went for my sleeves.

"What are you doing?" I said.

"It's gonna be hot in there," she said. There was a tiny tremor in her voice. I rolled up my sleeves, grabbed her hand, and we descended into the pit.

I couldn't tell human being from human being in there – it was just a sweaty mess of bodies and limbs and shiny fabrics. Meng and I pushed through until we found a spot right near the bass, where I couldn't hear myself think, or hear any of my inhibitions for that matter. Meng was here on a mission. Her brown eyes were locked like lasers on my face and she pressed that tiny body right up to mine.

"Where were we?" She whispered.

I smiled and pulled her close. The song was one I actually knew – 'Yeah' by Usher. An oldie, but a goodie. The beat was great, and we were in perfect sync. She paused for a moment and turned around to look at me. I raised an eyebrow at her, and then she suddenly did something I'd only seen in music videos – she bent all the way over, pushing her ass right into my crotch, and moved up and down with the beat. Even through the tulle, it was an instant boner. She popped her booty out and arched her back to stand up, that sultry look back on her face.

"Where did you learn to do that?" I asked.

"I did pageants," she said with a laugh. For a moment we stared at each other, as Usher told us _yeah yeah yeah_ in the background.

We stepped forward at the same time and started making out.

I wish I could tell you it was sexy and enjoyable, or at least mildly pleasurable. The truth is, it was my first time, and I'm willing to bet it was her first time. So it was, in polite terms, a saliva clusterfuck. There were a lot of tongues and teeth and lips and spit and I could not for the life of me figure out what the fuck was going on. I just kept running my tongue all around the inside of her mouth, because what the fuck else were you supposed to do? She tasted like strawberry lipgloss and desperation. I dug my hands in her hair, messing up the big fuchsia bow, and made the most out of it.

When we broke apart, there was an awkward moment where we both wiped the spit off on the back of our hands and tried not to watch the other one do it. We looked at each other in a terribly awkward silence for a moment.

"Wanna find the rest of the group?" I asked. She nodded eagerly and we headed out.

Sokka and Yue were nowhere to be found (though we all knew what was happening), but Katara and Haru were sitting at one of the tables talking. We picked up our stuff and went to join them.

"Hey, guys!" Haru said jovially. Meng smiled and chatted him up, but Katara was giving me a weird glare.

"Is everything okay?" I asked her, sitting down.

At that moment, Meng sat beside me and casually placed her hand on my leg as she continued to talk to Haru.

Katara's nostrils flared like a dragon. I was completely bewildered. There was a fire in her eyes that I hadn't seen since Jet.

"Katara, are you okay?" I asked again.

Now Meng and Haru were staring at us. Meng was giving Katara a glare that could have burned holes in solid steel, and poor Haru just looked confused. Katara looked right at me with those expressive eyes like she was desperately trying to tell me something.

Then Sokka and Yue came up.

"This is so much fun!" Sokka crowed. "Why have I never done this before, Katara?"

"It's cause you've never had a date this gorgeous before!" Katara said, her animosity suddenly vanishing. "Actually, you've never had a date before!"

We all burst out laughing, the tension dispelled. Yue plopped down and took off her gloves, a flush in her cheeks. "Oh, my God, guys, I can't believe how fun that is. I've actually never come to one of these before."

"No way! Why not?" Meng asked.

"I hadn't turned sixteen yet," she replied. "That's the age you're allowed to date in my country. Sokka's my first!"

The words suddenly made us all giggle, and Yue stammered, "I mean, he's not my…I mean, you _know_…"

"Oh, I know," Sokka said. "It's the innermost desire of your heart."

I laughed, letting my tension fade away. Meng's hand stayed calmly on my leg, and Katara's laughter was in my ears. I was fine.

"Well, will you guys humor me and come take a picture with me? I've got money to order the prints and everything," Yue said, grabbing her sequined purse.

"Why not?" Katara said, standing up. She and I exchanged a smile. "It's the first picture of the resistance movement."

"What?" Meng and Haru said. The other four of us just shook our heads and smiled, and then we danced our way over to the makeshift photography studio in the corner. There was a fairly cheesy scene set up, a park bench with an embroidered tapestry of the moon and stars overheard. We only waited a few minutes before the photographer noticed that the Water District princess was in line, and we were ceremoniously escorted forward. They arranged the three girls on the bench, with Yue in the middle. Then the men each stood behind our dates. I placed my hand on Meng's shoulder and tried not to look at Katara while I smiled.

"On three…one…two…three!"

The flash blinded my eyes, but the photographer smiled. "Most beautiful group of people I've ever captured."

"It's all me, obviously," Sokka said, which made us laugh. As we left and Yue paid the photographer, Meng grabbed my hand and pulled me back into the throng.

"Meng, what – I kinda want to get back to the group – "

"Oh, I know," she said, her voice strange and rushed. "I get it, Aang, I really do. You're sweet, and I appreciate it. But just let me enjoy you while I've got you, okay? Tomorrow, you're all hers again."

"What are you talking – "

She cut me off with a kiss.

Once again, the music made me sink, and I put my hands on her body and pulled her close. Second time was the charm, apparently. This time, she didn't try to eat my face. She was slow, sultry, suave, her tongue exploring rather than charging. Her fingers pressed into my shirt and one hand even found its way down to my belt buckle. I seized up, but there was no way I was going to stop her. Oh, my God, one finger was right there at my happy trail –

And then as suddenly as she came, she stopped and pulled back with a sigh. I looked at her in the strobe lights. The fuchsia seemed to burn in the dim lighting, and her young face was sad and defiant as she looked at me. This looked completely different from the vapid Meng that I'd picked up at her dad's house. This girl looked like she suddenly understood how the world worked. Gold-brown eyes roved my face, searching for answers.

I opened my mouth to say something, I don't know what, but she just smiled.

"Let's go find the rest of the group, okay?"

And she took my hand and pulled me along. The group was dancing in a corner far away from the speakers, and with strange relief, I noticed there was no grinding. They all just stood in a circle, dancing in place. Meng and I ran up and the circle widened for us. Meng and Katara locked eyes for a split second and exchanged a secret girl code, which resulted in Katara giving me a beaming smile and Meng averting her eyes to the floor. What the fuck was going on?

"Hey! Suki!" Sokka called.

We all spun around to find Suki standing against the back wall, talking to a dark-haired girl in a white dress I didn't know. When she saw us she grinned, said good-bye to the girl, and rolled over.

"What the fuck is up?"

Suki, surprisingly, had brought her A-game. Her dress was the same dark green as her hairband, a bustier in the top, exposing her cleavage, with a full silk skirt on the bottom. She was still wearing her lace-up boots and fierce winged eyeliner. The biggest differences were the gold bangles on her arms and the way that she stylized her thick short hair. As she was saying her hellos, she saw me with Meng and gave an approving smile.

"Where you been, Kyoshi?" Katara asked.

"Doing hoodrat shit, as per usual. Look at y'all, getting fancy up in this bitch! Princess, you are looking _fly_."

"Why thank you," Yue said diplomatically, her face a smile at being called 'fly'. "I don't think we've ever met."

"Suki Kyoshi, resident badass," she said casually. "Hey, Kat, look alive – I think they're preparing for the coronation."

Katara stood straight up and looked at the stage with wide eyes. It was finally time.

* * *

Azula came running up to Zuko, her gold eyes bright and excited. "Zuko! It's time for the coronation!"

"So?" he said. He was sitting on the bleachers, his tie loosened, looking disgruntled at the dancing mosh.

"You're on the court, idiot! You have to go up on stage with the rest of us!"

"Oh. Yeah." He had completely forgotten that he was on the Homecoming Court.

"Well, don't just sit there, go find fucking Mai and get her over here!" She pranced away, her long pale legs moving beneath her short red satin dress. Zuko groaned and stood up to go find Mai.

To no one's surprise, she was standing against the wall outside the gym, smoking. Zuko had to admit that she looked stunning in a way that no other girl did. Her dress was a combo of steampunk and 90's Gothic, completely black. There was a lace-up corset that pushed up her boobs, with off the shoulder sleeves and fingerless lace gloves. The skirt was all black lace, gathered in random places by buckles hanging down from the corset. Fishnet tights peeked out from her chunky heels. Her hair was gathered in a curly bun with two large, shiny chunks hanging beside her face. With her usual black eyeliner and vampy plum lipstick, she was probably the only girl Zuko would ever consider being seen in public with.

She groaned when she saw him come up. "Is it time to go up and stand in front of everybody and not win?"

"I guess so."

She threw her cigarette to the ground and stomped it out with her toe, then opened the bathroom door and shouted in,

"Ty Lee! Hurry your ass up, we gotta roll!"

Then she turned back to Zuko and looked up at him through her thick fake eyelashes.

"How do you know you won't win?" He asked.

She snorted. "You're not seriously that dumb, are you? Zhao and Azula are gonna win. It's planned. Ozai's throwing Zhao a bone and letting him win since he's gonna take Prom."

"You could have asked Azula to let you win Homecoming. You're a senior."

"You don't know your sister that well, do you?" She said with a smile. "It's all or nothing. I'm telling you, if she could come back next year and win instead of you and Ty Lee, she'd do it. Speak of the devil."

Ty Lee emerged from the bathroom, patting her hair. You could not have picked two more different girls. Ty Lee's pink dress was so short that Zuko was seriously wondering where the rest of her skirt was. The skirt flared out with lots of fluff underneath, and a big sash and bow accented her tiny waist. She beamed at Zuko, her usual braid replaced by a half-up, half-down hairdo, her honey brown hair falling in loose curls.

"I'm so excited!" She chirped.

"Don't be, you're not gonna win," Mai said bluntly. Ty Lee's face fell. "Next year, honey. It's gonna be you and Zuko."

She turned to Zuko with a smile. "Get ready to wear pink next year!"

Zuko forced a smile and Mai tried to suppress her chuckle. Then Azula poked her head out the door.

"Seriously, what are you guys doing? Get the fuck out here!"

Mai sighed and pulled back her gloves. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

"Good luck, girls!" Sokka said, giving Yue and Katara both kisses on the cheek as they headed up to stage. Katara met my eye and I gave her a big thumbs up. She grinned. Yue gently held her hand and they walked up on stage, a show of Water District solidarity against the three Fire District girls. Azula was giving them both vicious glares, while Mai looked bored and Ty Lee ecstatic. The candidates for Homecoming King, all Fire District, lined up on the other side. I noticed Zuko with a strange, disgruntled expression on his face.

Principal Pathik, a small brown man with a huge white beard, stepped up to the microphone and smiled at all of us. "Alright, everybody! The moment you've all been waiting for is finally here! Time to crown our Homecoming Queen and King!"

Everyone cheered. Sokka and I shared a glance and looked up at Katara. She was nervously playing with her fingers, a big smile on her face.

"Contrary to tradition, we'll do the men first," Principal Pathik said. He pulled a small blue envelope out of his coat pocket and made a big show out of opening it. We all waited, though there wasn't really an air of anticipation like I imagined there was at other high schools. We knew what was going to happen.

"Zhao Furo!"

There was a smattering of polite applause as Zhao punched the air and swaggered up to receive his crown. I looked at Sokka and he rolled his eyes. Zhao kept fist bumping the air to the crowd of people who were clapping. I saw Ozai in the corner, wearing a red shirt, smiling.

"And now, for Homecoming Queen…" Principal Pathik gave us all a raised eyebrow look and pulled out a pink envelope.

There was no drama this time either. We all shifted our feet and waited for the inevitable announcement. Azula was straightening out her skirt and fluffing her shiny black hair.

Principal Pathik opened the envelope, paused for a moment, and then said,

"Princess Yue Misong!"

The whole room was silent for a moment.

Then we all erupted.

There was complete pandemonium. I literally jumped up and down and screamed. Sokka whooped and cheered, punching his fists just like Zhao. Meng and Suki were holding each other and jumping up and down, and even Haru was clapping with a happy smile. On stage, I'd never seen more shocked faces. Azula looked completely furious, but Mai and Ty Lee were smiling and clapping along. The five Fire District boys just stared at Yue. I looked at Katara and saw that she wasn't even upset; she was screaming and jumping up and down with the rest of us. Azula fucking _lost_!

Yue, with all the grace of a real princess, stepped forward and gently inclined her head for Principal Pathik to put the shiny plastic crown on her head. She beamed at all of us and then raised one hand. We quieted down immediately.

All she said, with a beautiful smile, was, "Thank you all so very much."

We all cheered again. There was a feeling in the auditorium that I hadn't felt all night. For the first time, it seemed like people weren't afraid to be truly happy. The Fire District hegemony had, in one small way, ended. And Yue stood out over the crowd, like the real queen of the student body. I swear, it made me feel all warm and fuzzy like only Katara could.

The traditional dance with Yue and Zhao was about the most awkward thing I'd ever seen. Yue approached it diplomatically, a smile on her face and her hand out for a shake. But Zhao just glared at her and refused to shake her hand. They danced at arm's length, just swaying side to side, and the DJ thankfully cut the song off soon and began playing something more fun. Zhao broke away from Yue like she was on fire and ran away to his circle of Fire District boys, who were looking murderous. Yue made her way back to us, where we greeted her with more cheers.

"Oh, guys, stop," she said with a laugh. Sokka threw his arms around her and gave her a big wet kiss on the cheek.

"Congratulations, sweetie!"

"Thanks! I had no idea that was going to happen. This is the first time in three years that Azula hasn't been Homecoming Queen."

"I can't think of anyone better to win it," I said honestly.

She squeezed my shoulders. "Thanks, hun. I couldn't have asked for a better group of friends to share the night with."

As she went around hugging everyone else, I looked at Katara to see if she was doing okay. She was absentmindedly holding hands with Haru, and she gave me a sincere smile. I mouthed 'Prom Queen' to her, and she giggled.

"Now let's dance!" Yue said.

The rest of the dance passed in a happy blur. We found a little enclave at the edge of the dancing circle, and we danced like no one was watching. Sometimes we grinded, sometimes just swayed back and forth. Suki came in and out, sometimes with us, sometimes with her Kyoshi girls. Meng and I grinded together and sometimes held hands, but she didn't try to kiss me again. People kept coming up to congratulate Yue, who was apparently more popular than even she knew. Sokka was about to burst with pride.

Another slow song came on, and he grabbed her hand. "Let me show you how a real slow dance goes."

She blushed and headed off with him. They pressed together and swayed back and forth, her head resting on his shoulder. Haru gently led Katara away, where she blushed furiously as she danced. I turned to Meng with a smile.

"You and me, girl."

She grinned and pushed closer to me. I put my hands on her hips and moved from one foot to the other.

"I've had a great time with you," I said.

"You don't regret taking the random nerdy girl?" She asked.

"Not a bit," I said with a smile.

She smiled too and sighed. "It's okay, you know. I don't expect anything."

"What?"

"I can tell. Don't worry, I know it's just for tonight. You're not gonna break my heart or anything."

"Seriously, Meng, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You and Katara," she said quietly. "It's obvious. Everyone can tell. I'm happy just to get a date, so don't worry about breaking my heart. Maybe she'll actually go for you now."

Without even thinking, I said, "But she doesn't even notice me."

"Oh, really?" Meng said with a smile. "Take a look. Be subtle."

I snuck a peek out of my peripheral vision and saw, unbelievably, Katara looking at me even as she was in Haru's arms. She blushed and looked back down, and I turned back to Meng with a surprised face.

"Told you," she said.

Meng's ideas were truer than I realized. A half hour later, we were in our circle, and Yue excused herself to go put her corsage in the car. A few minutes after that, Katara grabbed my hand and said,

"Wanna grab some air?"

"Yeah, sure," I said. We headed outside and into the cool air. I hadn't realized how hot the gym was. I ran a hand over my head and found it completely covered in sweat.

Katara laughed and started digging around in her small sequined bag. "I think I got a tissue in here, you want it?"

"Yeah, thanks," I said. She dug out a few and both of us mopped off our faces and necks, which provoked a laugh.

"Was it like this last year?" I asked.

"Yeah, kinda. Sokka and I really just hung out in the corner and talked shit about everybody, so this year is infinitely more fun."

I laughed. "Seriously, though. And you've got a great date."

"Yeah, Haru's nice," she said. "He hasn't tried to kiss me all night, which is great. Speaking of which…I mean…Aang, I saw you with Meng."

I stiffened. "Yeah?"

"I just…I just wanted to tell you – "

A scream suddenly pierced the air.

Both of us froze and turned to the parking lot, where the scream came from.

"That sounds like Yue," Katara said.

Without hesitating, both of us took off sprinting.

It wasn't hard to find her. The full moon shone down on one of the most gruesome scenes I'd ever witnessed. Yue, her white hair and purple dress shining in the moonlight, lay crumpled on the asphalt, beside a bright red Hummer. As Katara and I stared, Zhao poked his head out the window, gave me a sick, deliberate smile, and drove off and out the parking lot.

Katara and I ran over, and Katara immediately gasped. There were tire tracks on Yue's gorgeous dress, streaking across her chest and stomach. She lay on the asphalt, breathing shallowly, her beautiful blue eyes swimming in and out of focus.

"Aang…Katara…" she whispered.

"Holy shit," Katara said, her voice tight with panic. "Oh, my God, I'm calling 911."

Everyone else heard the scream too, and Sokka and the others came racing up. Sokka's face dropped, and he got to his knees and held Yue's head in his lap.

"Hold on, sweetie," he said, "hold on, you'll be okay."

"Yes, my friend was just run over by a car," Katara said to the phone. "We're at Four Nations High, at the corner of Gold and Speedway. Please hurry."

Meng gasped when she saw Yue, and Suki swore. We all huddled around her. I could hear the sounds of everyone at the dance suddenly converging outside.

"It'll be okay, sweetie, it'll be okay," Katara whispered, pushing back Yue's hair. Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth. Yue gave a weak smile and raised up her left hand to her crown. I looked at her right hand and my stomach lurched to see that it was completely flattened, her beautiful purple corsage just a mess of flower petals.

She took the crown off her head and deliberately placed it in Katara's lap.

"What are you doing, hun?" Sokka said, his voice panicked.

"It's okay," she whispered. "I'll be okay. It's…a gorgeous night. And I want…to thank you all…for giving me…the best night of my life."

Her voice was coming so thin. My heart slowed down as true fear began to set in.

"Yue, don't talk like that," I said, "you're gonna be fine, the ambulance is on its way."

"Aang," she said, her eyes locked on my face. She reached out her good hand for mine. "It's gonna be okay. You're gonna be Prom King. And I'll be watching."

Tears were streaming from my face. The police sirens sounded in the background. Katara was openly sobbing. This could not be happening.

She looked upwards at Sokka and smiled. "I think I love you...Please take care of Katara and Aang for me."

"Of course, sweetie, but you're gonna be okay, you're gonna be there!" He said, his fingers clutching desperately at her face.

"Of course I'll be there," she said, with a truly gorgeous smile. "I'll always be here. Right – there."

She pointed up at the moon. We looked up briefly, then back down at her. Her face was so peaceful, so serene, her eyes filled with pure love. She smiled at us, and then gently closed her eyes.

"Yue?" Sokka asked, grabbing her hand.

Her chest still rose and fell. Blood began to seep through the top of her dress, staining Katara's silver silk heels. Katara's sobs were dry and desperate.

Then, as we all watched, her chest stopped moving. Her neck went limp, and she went still with a smile on her face.

No. Oh, my God, no. _No_.

My heart crashed, falling like a blazing comet to the pit of my stomach. I sat there, looking at Yue's beautiful, broken body, and wanted to scream and kick and cry and oh, God, why did she have to die?

Sokka let out a howl – a howl filled with rage and pain and inexpressible sadness. Katara had completely dissolved, her hands covering her face as she sobbed her lungs out. Haru comforted Meng, who was sobbing as well, and Suki, anger on her face, somehow expressed it best.

"_GODDAMN IT!_" She screamed out.

Feelings that had lain buried for years suddenly clawed their way to my heart, filling my head with more painful memories – the fire, spreading across the main street, devouring homes, the secret tunnel beneath my house that my parents forced me and Grandfather into, my mother giving me one last kiss before they went to save the sick, and, worst of all, the smell of burnt wood and flesh, the gray cinders coating the floor when we went back to the house, days later, and found them, barely recognizable as humans, more like hunks of charred and bloody flesh, laying outside the hospital alongside the people they'd tried to rescue, the feeling of complete and utter pain that would haunt me for years and years whenever I closed my eyes. I laid my head over Yue's body and just cried. This world was cold and cruel, cold as that faraway moon, giving us silvery light so we could see her death clearly.

The police and ambulance came and tried to move us away. They ushered the rest of the students in, but several refused to move. The Kyoshi Warriors, led by Suki, dropped to their knees and placed their golden fans across their hearts in a tribute to a fallen soldier. Suki cried, but her makeup didn't run. It gave me a degree of strength to know that at least one of us would stand tall. A few of the Fire District kids stayed too – Mai, Ty Lee, and Zuko, all of them with shocked and horrified expressions.

The police tried over and over again to get us to move, but the six of us refused to leave. We stayed together as they came and placed her beautiful body in a black bag and loaded her into the ambulance. They called Grandfather, perhaps in an effort to get us to leave, but he simply stayed with us, tears running down his own lined face. We looked them straight in the eye and said, "Zhao Furo." The police officer heard the pain in our voices and told us he'd arrest him that very same night.

And then it was just us, the group and my grandfather and the Kyoshi Warriors, standing in an asphalt parking lot beside a puddle of blood, shining black in the moonlight. Katara's sobbing was more quiet now as she leaned into Sokka, who looked like he had lived a thousand years of pain. I looked down at the ground and saw that Katara's silver heels were stained brown with blood. My own hands felt crusty and sticky, but for some twisted reason I didn't want to wash it off. Katara held on to the crown like her life depended on it.

I looked up at the moon, so full and beautiful, and suddenly realized what Yue had been talking about in her last words.

"It'll be okay, Princess," I whispered to the moon. "I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do what you said I would do. I'm going to win Prom King. I'm going to make you proud."

The moon shone bright, and a gentle breeze wound through the parking lot, cooling the gentle tears on my face. Katara reached up and held my hand.

We stayed there until the moon finally vanished with a sigh into the gentle western sky.

* * *

**:( Okay, so that sucked to write. I would like to make very clear that I did not enjoy killing Yue. That was one of the worst scenes I've ever had to write, and in over nine years of novel writing I've killed a lot of characters. But there's a very old saying in writing workshops that says, 'Kill your children'. It means that sometimes, your favorite characters just have to die. Ugh. **

**Also, more sad news - there's gonna have to be at least one more chapter before I introduce Toph. The pacing just works better that way. Feel free to egg my house - I totes understand. If it's any consolation, I've already started on the next chapter, so they should be out pretty soon.**

**Even though you all may hate me right now, I still love you :) Please review (even if they're flames)! Lunar goodness - PVB**


	9. Aftershock

**Chapter Nine – Aftershock**

The afterparty was everything Zuko could have hoped for. There was a keg and several handles of hard alcohol. Music blared through the huge house, and beer pong tables were set up all over the place. A giant bong was set up in the corner, with more weed than Zuko had ever seen. All around him, Fire District kids sang and screamed and danced and drank.

But Zuko sat in a chair in the corner, fear and anger making his fists clench. He wanted to run, wanted to get out of this party with all these people he really didn't know, but he couldn't. He was imprisoned here. His sister kept her eye on him, sneaking glances at random intervals during her beer pong game.

"Zuko."

He looked up. It was Mai. Still wearing her steampunk dress, she had ditched the black heels and let her hair out of its curly bun. Now it was slung in a low ponytail down her back. She was holding two shotglasses filled with clear liquid.

"I don't feel like drinking," he said.

"It'll ease the pain."

He looked into her eyes, and though her face was as expressionless as always, for some reason he believed that she knew what he was going through.

So he nodded. She sat down beside him and handed him the glass. They clinked them together and then Zuko tipped it back.

_Holy fuck_. It tasted like pure battery acid. It was all he could do to not puke it back up. The shit burned all the way down his throat to settle like a fire in his stomach.

He looked over at Mai, who was calmly wiping off her glass.

"What the fuck?" he spluttered. "What the hell was that stuff?"

"Everclear," she replied.

"Jesus Christ! You could have warned me you were giving me _Everclear_! Oh, my God, Mai, that was disgusting!"

"Yeah, but now you're thinking of something other than what happened tonight, aren't you?"

Zuko paused. It was true. The disgusting liquid burning a hole in his stomach had distracted him from the death of that Water Tribe princess. But now Mai had brought it all back.

"It's bullshit," he muttered. The music was loud and their corner of the room deserted. All the same, he kept his voice low.

Mai said nothing, so he continued. "I mean, what is so important to Zhao that a girl had to die for it? And there he is, fucking playing beer pong like nothing happened."

Mai stayed silent.

"I mean, Jesus Christ, he could at least look like he regretted it, instead of sitting there with Ozai like two fucking peas in a pod. I swear, somebody deserves to punch Zhao in the face. What the fuck is so important that he had to _kill_ someone?"

"Jesus, Zuko, don't be so naïve," she suddenly snapped. "You know why it happened."

He turned to her, confusion all over his face, and she raised her eyebrows. "Your dad didn't tell you?"

He shook his head.

She sighed. "The Water District has been on General Azulon's hit list for years. Now that the Air District is gone, the Water District is next before he goes after Earth. And Yue's dad, Arnook, is the Chief of the Northern District, the more powerful one. Actually, the chief of the Southern District is the dad of that girl, Katara. You saw her up there with us tonight."

Of course he did. Katara, in her ethereal blue dress, stood out like a fairy in that dark room.

"The plan was to assassinate Arnook sometime this year. And Zhao's dad was going to do it. But this year, with the reappearance of the Air District kid, Azulon turned his attention to our generation, the power that we could supply. Aang Nomad's reappearance has given a lot of hope to the insurrection movement. Azulon couldn't have that, but he couldn't kill the last Air District kid, not with the government breathing down his neck, so the plan shifted to killing Princess Yue instead of her father, and Zhao was going to do it cause his dad couldn't afford to go to prison again. I guess they just decided to do it tonight after Yue got the Homecoming crown and not Azula."

Zuko sat and processed the information, which felt like a sickly virus inside his head.

"So you're saying Zhao's dad ordered him to kill Princess Yue?"

Mai nodded.

"And my dad knew about it? And was on board with it?"

Another nod.

"And Ozai and Azula and everyone knew about it?"

"Everyone in our class, yeah. They didn't tell you or Ty Lee. They thought you'd try to stop it."

"Of course I'd try to stop it!" he whispered ferociously. "How can you just sit here, Mai? A girl died tonight because we're so afraid of the other nations fighting against us that we're willing to kill an innocent person to keep their spirits low! We should be fighting against this!"

"And what exactly do you propose?" She hissed. Her voice was low and urgent. "Don't think I think this is right, Zuko. I know damn well this is wrong. That girl did nothing to any of us but exist. But you know what would happen if we talked out of turn. My ass, your ass, we'd be in jail, at best. You know as well as I do that our parents wouldn't hesitate to take us out just like they took out Yue, just for going against them."

Zuko looked at her, horror dawning on his face at the complete helplessness of his situation, like a dragon chained to a wall, spitting fire into the air, hopelessly.

"Maybe one day we can do something about it," she said. "When we're in charge of the Fire District, we can take a stand. We can change this bullshit. But right now, getting thrown in jail isn't going to help anyone. We've just got to keep our heads down and get through high school. We don't have the power, Zuko, we just don't."

He clenched his fists. "I don't like it."

"Me neither," Mai said. "It's just gotten worse. Our parents were going crazy. What they did to that Air District couple was horrific. And that invasion was just the beginning."

"Which Air District couple – "

"ZHAO, NO!"

Both of them stood up and looked over. Zhao, leering, his shirt unbuttoned, was pushing Ty Lee against the wall, her face rigid with pain.

"Come on, girl, you're my date," he grunted. "It's what good girls do."

"You are a monster!" She cried. "I'm not sleeping with you! I'm not even kissing you!"

"Ty Lee, you stupid bitch," he said, pushing even closer, "doesn't every girl want a kiss from the Homecoming King?"

And he firmly grabbed Ty Lee's wrists. She slipped out of her high heels and kicked her leg up, slamming Ozai under the chin. The whole party fell silent, and as he stumbled backwards, she ran over and hid behind Mai and Zuko, trembling ferociously.

"Goddamn it, Ty Lee – " Azula pushed her way through, growling, but Mai stepped firmly in front of Ty Lee, a three-inch long knife magically appearing in her hand. Now, even the music stopped, everyone frozen.

"Don't touch her," Mai said softly. Her voice somehow managed to carry through the whole room.

"She stepped out of line," Azula said. "She knows what's expected of her. She's Zhao's date."

"She's just a junior," Mai shot back. "What happened tonight was scary for her. Besides, Zhao's going to jail tonight, we all know it. Do you want to add rape to his rap sheet tonight?"

Azula glared ferociously at Mai, her fierce eyebrows drawn low. Everyone in the party was tuned in to the conversation. Zuko found himself moving closer to Ty Lee, feeling like she needed protecting.

"I'll talk to her," Mai said, looking Azula in the eyes. "Let me sort this out."

"She knows better," Azula snapped. "I'm the one who's gonna take care of this."

But when she took a step forward, Mai raised her knife. Azula froze.

"I love you, Zula, but if you take another step towards her, I'll gut you like a pig."

She said it with a calm, deadpanned voice that was somehow scarier than if she had screamed it. And the way she held that knife made Zuko realize that this was not her first time with it.

Azula didn't stand a chance, and she knew it. She gave a final glare at Ty Lee and then headed back to the party, yelling, "And just what the _fuck_ are you looking at?"

As conversation resumed, Ty Lee crumpled to the ground. Mai and Zuko got down beside her as she shook with sobs. Mai pulled her in and Ty Lee leaned her pretty head on Mai's shoulder. Zuko rubbed her back, suddenly feeling more sympathy for this girl than he had in a whole lifetime of knowing her.

"Mai, I was so scared," she whispered.

"It's okay," Mai said softly, stroking her hair. "I got you." She paused and then said, "But you should have known better. Just knock him out in the bedroom next time, make Azula think you slept with him."

"I shouldn't be expected to sleep with him!" She said. "He's a monster! He killed a girl tonight!"

"I know, sweetie," Mai said, her voice filled with pain. "I know. It's wrong."

The three of them sat silently, listening to old-school rap fill the room.

"What can we do?" Ty Lee whispered. "I can't keep doing this. It's so wrong."

Mai took a deep breath and said, "Keep our heads down. One day, we can take a stand."

Police sirens began to sound down the street. The party subdued, as everyone turned to Zhao, standing by the keg with a defiant look on his face.

"Quick, before the cops come." Mai grabbed three shotglasses from the table and pulled up her skirt, revealing a black garter that held up a silver flask. She slipped it out and poured Everclear into the shotglasses.

"To Princess Yue," she whispered, holding hers up.

"To Princess Yue," they echoed, throwing back their shots as the red and blue lights filled the room.

* * *

Yue's official funeral was to be held in the Northern Water District. That was where they were shipping her body. But because of the student outcry the Monday after the death, Principal Pathik decided to hold a memorial ceremony for her in the school auditorium, that Thursday night.

When Grandfather dropped me off, almost half an hour early, Sokka was already sitting outside. As the calendar ticked towards November, the air was beginning to get a chill that made me pull my jacket closer. Sokka, however, didn't seem cold at all. He just looked numb. He wore a smart black suit with a simple tie as he stared at the ground.

I walked over and sat beside him. Neither of us said anything. There was nothing to say. The silence in the air and the chill of the wind expressed more than our feeble words of sorrow could say.

But it was incredible to have someone sitting beside me, mourning just as I was. Someone who had not only lost a friend, but a parent, just like I had. There was the same feeling of tiredness between the two of us, the feeling that we had been through enough in our short lives. It wasn't fair that we should have to lose Yue too.

I heard the clack of heels, and Katara walked up to us. She hadn't even bothered to put on makeup, because the tears streaking down her cheek told me she would've cried it all off. She was wearing a simple black dress that wrapped at the waist. It was only the second time I'd ever seen her not wear blue. My stomach lurched when I saw that she was wearing the same blood-stained silver heels that she'd worn to Homecoming.

She saw me looking and blushed a little. "They're the best heels I own. My black ones are a little too trashy for a funeral."

I nodded, and she sat down beside us. Her hand snaked out and grabbed my hand, and even though there was a small thrill that I was holding her hand, I felt mainly relief. She wasn't the girl I wanted to bone; tonight, she was a friend, mourning with me.

"I'm gonna say something in the middle of the ceremony," she said. "Would the two of you come up on stage with me?"

"What are you going to say?" I asked.

"I'm going to tell them Yue's last words," she said, tears already lining the inside of her eyes. She opened up her purse and brought out Yue's plastic crown. Even that had small stains of blood, probably from Katara touching it.

I nodded, and beside me, Sokka nodded. The sounds of cars pulling up began to fill the parking lot. The three of us sat together for a moment, relishing the silence.

Fortunately, we weren't the only ones to want silence. The first to arrive were Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors, who were wearing beautiful traditional garb that I had never seen before. A deep green skirt and armor, with gold headpieces and their golden fans. They all wore exaggerated versions of the makeup they wore on a daily basis – high, arching red eyeshadow, thick winged eyeliner, pale white faces and blood-red lips. They walked up to us and Suki's face expressed the pain we were all feeling.

"You all look very nice," Sokka said.

She gave a small smile. "It's traditional Earth District garb for a female warrior. We're gonna be Yue's honor guard tonight."

I smiled. "I think she would like that."

Suki nodded, then she and the warriors descended into silence with us. Eventually, as students began filing into the auditorium, Meng and Haru came up to us as well. Meng wore a white kimono, traditional for when a loved one died, and Haru had on a black suit. The six of us shared a new, unbreakable bond, the kind that I shared with my Grandfather, the kind that Sokka and Katara shared with their father. We'd witnessed the death of someone we loved. Actually, looking around the circle, I knew that Suki and Meng had also lost a loved one, though not to death. And I was willing to bet Haru was the same as many of the Earth District kids who were displaced due to the Fire District. And now the six of us, a terribly unlikely group, would always remember together another senseless death.

The time was coming for the funeral, but none of us seemed willing to go inside. So I bit the bullet and said, "Come on, guys. We have to be strong for the rest of them. Everyone knows we were there when she died."

There were nods all around the circle. I squeezed Katara's hand extra tight and pulled her to her feet, and Haru clapped a hand on Sokka's back and helped him up. I noticed he was still wearing his purple lily boutonnière, which looked a little more faded now. With the Kyoshi Warriors leading the way, we headed into the auditorium.

The next hour would be one of the hardest of my life. There had never been a funeral for my parents – Grandfather and I lived in secret for the next several years, and my parents' bodies were probably buried in some Fire District mass grave. The closest we'd come was burning incense and reciting prayers in our underground sanctuary. I was only eleven, and I had the naïve notion that my parents had died for a noble cause. That was why they stayed behind, after all – why they didn't go into our underground bunker with Grandfather and I. They were both doctors, and they wanted to get the sick people out of the hospital. Now, looking at the gorgeous picture of Yue that they'd placed on a makeshift altar, I knew that they died for the same reason Yue did – which was nothing at all. It was pointless, empty, like words screamed onto a wind, carried away. There was no grand, noble cause, no battle cry yelled into the night.

But there was, I reminded myself. There still is. I'm going to win Prom King. For them.

The funeral was filled with a lot of empty gestures. Principal Pathik, who was an insightful and traditional man, had clearly not set up the funeral. It began with a rendition of 'Hallelujah', played by some inexperienced sophomore on the piano. Then several members of the faculty got up and talked about how Yue was such a blessing to the school, an exemplar student, a model for the younger grades. It pissed me off. They didn't sound like they knew her at all. Sokka's fists were clenched beside me.

But shit got real when Principal Pathik stood up and told us he would be playing 'Hide and Seek' by Imogen Heap, which according to her father was one of Yue's favorite songs. The beautiful, haunting autotuned song came over the speakers, and somehow it felt like it spoke right to my feelings –

_Where are we? What the hell is going on?_

_The dust has only just begun to fall_

_Crop circles in the carpet_

_Sinking, feeling…_

_Spin me round again_

_And rub my eyes_

_This can't be happening_

_When busy streets a mess with people who stop to hold_

_Their heads heavy…_

_Hide and seek_

_Trains and sewing machines_

_All those years_

_They were here first…_

Katara sobbed beside me, her tiny sniffles seeming to sync in perfectly with the song.

_The takeover, the sweeping insensitivity_

_Of this still life…_

Yue's girls, a group of blue-clad, brown-haired beauties, were sitting stoically in the front row, faces pale with grief.

_Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth,_

_Bittersweet talk, newspaper word cutouts_

_Speak no feeling, no I don't believe you_

_You don't care a bit, you don't care a bit…_

The song faded into silence, and somehow I felt stronger, like this terribly sad song had allowed me to feel the pain that I had been denying this whole time. Beside me, Katara was sitting up, rubbing her eyes free of makeup.

"And now," Principal Pathik, "Katara Hatori has requested to say a few words."

Suddenly it was time. Katara, Sokka and I stood up and walked in the silent room up to the front of the auditorium. It was a strange feeling, everyone's eyes on me. I had felt something like this not too long ago, when the government threw a weird party to welcome Grandfather and I to the city and everyone just stared at the last two Air District members. This was different.

Sokka and I stood to the side as Katara walked to the microphone. I expected her to seem nervous, but she really didn't look it. Her blue eyes stared out over the crowd with fierce determination.

"Thank you for allowing me to speak," she began, her voice steady. "Unfortunately, I'm not here to tell you how well I knew Princess Yue Misong. The truth is, I didn't know her that well. I knew her, just as many of us knew her, as the beautiful Princess of the Northern Water District. As princess in my own right, of the Southern District, we were aware of each other's existence. I thought – and I still think – that she was a far greater princess than I would ever be.

"But I did know her, in the last few weeks of her life, through a very unusual medium. This is Aang Nomad," she said, pointing to me. I stiffened up. "Many of you know him. He is, with his grandfather, the last surviving member of the Air District. Aang represents the tyranny that we have been living under due to the Fire District, and this year, he decided to do something to stop it. He decided to run for Prom King."

All of the school officials were shifting uncomfortably in their seats. They didn't like this talk of insurrection against the powerful Fire District. But the students were sitting on the edge of their seat.

"We approached Princess Yue, asking her to vote for Aang for Prom King. And Yue, because she believed in taking a stand against tyranny, agreed to vote for him. She said it was important for her, as a leader of her people, to show that she would not sit by while more injustice was committed in her presence.

"_That_ is why she died!" Katara barked, her voice reverberating. "Princess Yue's death was not a random murder! It was a calculated move by the Fire District to stamp out our hope! But if we allow Yue's death to accomplish that goal, then we will not be truly honoring her memory!

"Though it will be hard, I'm here to tell you what Yue's last words were," she said. The whole room was silent as a grave. "Myself and several of our friends had the amazing opportunity to spend the night with her, and we were there when she died. Princess Yue's last words were to us, telling us that Aang Nomad had to be Prom King! She died with a smile on her lips, knowing that Aang would, one way or another, become Prom King! And I am here today to ask you to carry out her final wish. Vote for Aang Nomad for Prom King – because it means more than just a crown." She pulled out Yue's crown, her hands shaking. "She passed this crown to me, because she didn't need a crown. Aang Nomad doesn't need a crown either. His very existence, his very spirit is enough. But to prove to the Fire District that we are a strong, proud student body, the physical crown is required. Vote for Aang Nomad, and in your own way, take a stand against the injustice and terror that we have lived under! Vote for Aang Nomad, and Princess Yue will not have died in vain!"

Her voice cracked on the last word, and she tried to hold her head up straight as she descended in sobs. The claps started slowly, and then built up to a rumble as the entire population of the funeral got to their feet and applauded Katara's words. It was then that I knew that we had finally gained the votes of the Water District.

* * *

Sometime in the middle of the funeral, it became too much after Katara. The time after her speech had dissolved into sad songs and more students getting up to talk about how much they loved Yue, and would vote for Aang. And though it was incredible to hear that Yue's death had truly impacted the population, it was just too much for Katara.

She snuck away, to the quiet, brick-lined corridor behind the auditorium, and took a long drink from the water fountain. She kicked off her blood-stained heels and leaned against the wall, the bricks cooling her feverish arms and neck. Her eyes closed, she simply allowed herself to feel everything going through her – pain, rage, inexpressible sadness. Her mother's face danced in and out of her memories, making her bite her lip to keep from crying out.

"That was a beautiful speech."

She opened her eyes to find a young man in a black suit standing in front of her. In the dim light, she couldn't quite tell who it was. But when she squinted, she finally saw it – a gruesome scar on the right side of his face.

"Zuko," she gasped, stepping back. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I wanted to come," he said quietly. "Your speech was incredible."

"Oh, don't give me that bullshit. I know you're right in Ozai's pocket, just like Zhao was." She couldn't help but be furious.

But Zuko didn't fight back. "Ozai didn't order me to come here," he said. "Nobody knows I'm here. And actually, I'd appreciate if you didn't tell."

She slowly straightened up, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Are you here to tell me you're sorry that Yue died?"

"I don't know what I feel," he said, his eyes glued to the ground. "All I know is, I didn't know that they were planning on killing her, but if I'd known, I would've tried to stop it. I don't think anyone should die for the Fire District."

Katara couldn't stop it. The words came out like snakes. "Yeah, tell that to my mother. She was killed when I was only six. Shot three times through the head. I don't know what she died for, but I hope to God it wasn't for the Fire District."

Zuko slowly raised his eyes to look at Katara, shaking and sniffling and generally on the verge of an emotional meltdown.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I lost my mother to the Fire District too."

She looked at him, finally taking in the scar that traced across his right eye.

"I'm sorry," she finally said. "This war is bullshit."

"I wish it was a war," he said. "It's all underground. Lots of night raids because we're not brave enough to launch an all-out attack. And our parents use us like little pawns in the high school, like their wars are important enough for a girl to die."

Katara stared at this boy like staring at a dinosaur. His voice, his actions…he wasn't like the assholes she'd pictured all Fire District boys to be. And if he really lost his mother too…

"I really should go," he said, walking towards the door. "Take care, Katara."

"Okay, but, Zuko – "

He was gone before she could finish her sentence.

Behind her, she heard the sounds of chairs scraping. The service must have ended. People would be wanting to see her.

She slipped into her heels absentmindedly and wiped off some stray tears on her cheek.

What just happened?

"Katara, where are you?"

She took a deep breath and headed out into the funeral.

* * *

Finally, after half an hour of hand-shaking, we had our silence again. Don't get me wrong, I was grateful that everyone said they'd be voting for me, even Hahn and all those asshole guys. But it was a relief when it was finally just Sokka, Katara and I, standing underneath a pale moon.

"I don't really want to be alone right now," Sokka said flatly.

"Me neither," I said.

"Aang, why don't you come over to our house? It's right around the corner," Katara asked.

Sokka looked at Katara and started furiously shaking his head, but she said, "It's okay, he saw me at the Jasmine Dragon, he knows we're dirt poor."

"Oh. Okay." He looked at me and mustered the first smile I'd seen from him since Yue died. "Let's go."

The walk was quiet, beside the thuds of me and Sokka's dress shoes and the clack-clack of Katara's heels. We walked in sync, all of our eyes glued to the sidewalk. I hardly even noticed when we arrived at a gray apartment complex. Katara swiped a key at the front and we headed into a small, but neat, entryway. Katara pressed the elevator button.

"We're on the fifth floor, so we normally take the stairs, but it's just not happening in these heels."

After a short elevator ride, we arrived on the fifth floor. Katara and Sokka led the way down to the end of the hall, where bronze numbers 505 announced the door.

"It's kinda small," Katara said, apologetically, turning the key to let me in.

When the light turned on, I had to stop myself from furiously agreeing. Their apartment was _tiny_. It could probably fit in my living room at home. There was a small, cramped kitchen with a pretty window, tiny flowers growing in pots on the windowsill. The kitchen connected to a combination living/dining room, with a pair of beat-up blue couches and no TV. Through there, I saw a bitsy bathroom and one bedroom. The whole place, despite how small it was, was impeccably clean, and had lots of art around the walls – probably Katara's influence.

"Want some tea?" Katara said, hanging her purse on a stand. "I can boil some up."

"You have tea," Sokka said, "I got something better for Aang and I."

I was about to protest that I really enjoyed tea when Sokka went to the fridge and pulled out two beer bottles – Stella Artois. "My older cousin bought these for me when he was in town. Told me to save them for a special occasion."

I nodded and we headed to the living room. Despite how small it was, the place truly had good windows. There was a small bookshelf, plenty of family photos, and what looked like the most expensive thing in here, a very nice guitar.

"You play?" I asked Sokka.

He nodded. "My dad taught me. My mom used to love it."

"Can you play me something?"

He sighed and propped his feet up on the couch. With tired fingers, he pulled out his tie and unbuttoned the top of his shirt. "Honestly, dude, if I play, I'm gonna cry, and I've done enough of that today."

I nodded in agreement. Sokka opened his beer and then passed me the bottle opener. We waited to drink until Katara came back in the room, wearing blue silk pajamas, her hair in a braid down her chest. She was holding a steaming mug of tea and sat down beside me.

She raised the tea. "To Yue."

Sokka and I raised our beers and clinked the glasses together. "To Yue."

Then we all drank. I'd never had beer before, and it tasted bitter and hoppy. The first pull was disgusting, but somehow it helped, so I kept going, and found that I liked the way that it settled in my stomach.

We sat in silence for a while longer, each of us our in our own thoughts. But eventually – maybe it had something to do with the moon rising – but we each began to look up. Katara unclenched her body, letting her bare feet swing lazily from the couch. Sokka rested his head back and drank his beer, his eyes closed ever so slightly. And I looked out at the night sky and imagined what my parents would say to me now.

"We're gonna be okay, guys," I said aloud.

I looked over and saw both Katara and Sokka smiling at me.

"Here, here," Katara said, holding up her mug for one more toast.

"To being okay," Sokka said.

"To always being okay," I repeated. We took another swig and I really did believe it. Somehow, we really would be okay.

* * *

**Hey guys! So I promised I'd update quickly, and I did! :) So first I want to thank you all. This last chapter broke my personal record of most number of reviews per chapter (that wasn't a finale), so thank you all soo much! As a reward, and because we've had two sad chapters in a row and I'm sick of writing sad chapters, next chapter I will FINALLY be introducing Toph. I've already got a super angsty-angry-fuck everything playlist all written out for it. So please review, and I'll get it to you as fast as I can! MUAH - PVB**

**PS: Props to Karaoke-Lover for inadvertently guessing the chapter title in your review ;)**


	10. Tough as Dirt

**Chapter Ten – Tough as Dirt**

* * *

One cold morning in November, I walked up to our usual hang-out spot to see one of the seven signs of the apocalypse: Sokka doing homework.

"Dude, what the hell are you doing?" I asked.

"Homework, dipshit, what's it look like?"

"I've never seen you do that before."

He snorted and I sat down beside him. "It's true, academics aren't usually my forte, but you know, when in Rome."

I snuck a peek and saw a long list of Physics calculations.

"Do you want to go to college, Sokka?"

He paused and gave me an exasperated look. "Dude, I don't know. I like learning and my parents and grandma want me to go, but it's pretty much out of the question unless I get a scholarship of some sort. So it's either a lacrosse scholarship or an academic scholarship, and between us, I really don't think either of them are working out right now."

"I'm sorry, dude."

"S'all good, man. We'll work it out somehow. Look alive."

Both of us turned to see Katara walking up with Haru, hand in hand. My stomach started churning. I had been hoping that just because they were Homecoming dates wouldn't mean that they would stay together, but apparently Katara had other ideas. They had this super casual romance that was somehow worse than if they'd actually been dating, because then I would know that I didn't have a chance. As of right now, they were just unofficial enough to keep this stupid little flower of hope alive inside my chest. Ugh.

"Hey, guys," Haru said, walking up with a smile. Dear God, he had so much hair. "Sokka, what are you doing?"

Sokka laughed. "Aang said the same thing. Do I seriously not do homework that often?"

"I _live_ with you and I never see you do homework," Katara said.

"Okay, well, fuck you all."

We laughed, and Haru turned to Katara. "I'm gonna go get ready for class. See you after school?"

"Okay," she said, a hint of blush on her cheeks. Then, like neither of them knew what they were doing, they kissed, very quickly, before Haru hurried away and Katara dropped to the bench, now furiously blushing.

"Smooth," Sokka said.

"Oh, shut _up_," she snapped.

"Have you ever even been kissed before?" I asked.

She slapped me. "Of – of course I have!"

I looked intently at her, trying to read behind those blue eyes. Had she seriously kissed someone before? _Who_?

"Well, that doesn't matter," Katara said. "What matters is how we're going to get Aang elected. It's almost the end of first semester, and prom's in April. We gotta get our shit together."

"We need to get the Earth District vote next," Sokka piped up.

"That's gonna be harder than the Water District," I said. "I don't have an in to the Earth District like we did with you guys. I don't even know any Earth District people besides Suki, and she clearly doesn't associate with them very much."

"Meng?" Katara asked.

I stifled a laugh. "I mean, she's a great girl, but she's not exactly the height of popular with the Earth kids. She's only a freshman, anyway."

"Well, duh!" Katara said. "Haru!"

It was out of my mouth before I could stop it. "Ugh, Katara, I don't want to ask your boyfriend."

That earned me another slap. "He's not my boyfriend!" She said, blushing. Sokka looked up from his homework to observe the fireworks.

"I'm just saying, he's a junior from the Earth District, he's the best chance we've got!" Katara said.

The bell rang, and the three of us got up to go to class. My desire to win Prom King was currently conflicting with my desire to completely ignore that Katara and Haru were a thing. I mean, Yue would understand if I didn't want to talk to that hairy man-beast?

I got an image of Yue sitting on a cloud, glaring down at me, and saying in a very un-Yue manner, "Bitch, please. Go talk to him."

_Fuck you too_, I thought.

So in between second and third periods, I headed over to the junior corridor. I saw that Haru was texting by his locker, which made me hate him slightly less. At least he was a real human being and not a completely goody-goody like Katara.

He turned to me and smiled. "Aang! What's up, dude?"

He was so fucking nice it made me want to punch babies.

"Hey, Haru!" I said. "I'm good, how are you?"

He shrugged. "It's a Monday, you know?"

"Damn right," I said. "Hey, listen, I have something I want to ask you."

"Don't worry," he said with a smile, "I'm already voting for you for Prom King."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it," I said. "But it's not exactly that. See, we need the whole Earth District to vote for me so that I can win. Would you be able to help us?"

"I wish," he said. "I'm afraid I don't have a lot of clout among the Earth kids. It's cause I don't fight."

"What do you mean?"

He leaned in closer and said under his breath, "There's kind of an underground fighting ring. Mixed martial arts, you know. Just for Earth kids. If you want someone with the power to influence the others, you're going to find him there."

"How do I get in?"

Haru frowned. "I might get my ass kicked for telling you this, but…it's on Friday nights, in the old gym, out west, behind the parking lot. There's gonna be a guy that looks like a delinquent sitting out from smoking hookah. Come up, say you're there for the Bowling Club. He's gonna ask, 'How do you take your martini?' And you say, 'Hard as diamonds'. That's the passcode. He should let you in, even though you're not Earth kids."

My head was spinning. "Bowling Club. Hard as diamonds. Thanks, Haru!"

He nodded. "Good luck, dude."

At lunch, I grabbed my cheese fries (the vegetarian options at this school were pitiful) and headed over to find Katara and Sokka, who were in the middle of a heated debate.

"No, you're stupid, it would be the greatest party ever!"

"It would be the lamest party ever," Sokka said. "I don't want to get dressed up to drink sparkling cider and talk about how rich I am."

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked as I sat down.

"Look!" Katara shoved a piece of paper in my face. It was a gold-embossed invitation, with a dramatic font and a seal of flying pig at the top.

"'The Twelfth Annual Beifong Gala'," I read. "Who are the Beifongs?"

"The richest Earth District family there is," Katara said, looking longingly at the invitation. "They have so much power. This fell out of a girl's bag today. I want to go _so bad_."

"Well," I said, "we've got another date this week."

"What?" Sokka said.

"We're going to a fighting ring," I said.

* * *

On Friday night, we headed back to school. The walk to the old gym was fairly creepy and accentuated by the fact that we could hear heavy guitar riffs coming from the building. We had tried our best to not look like complete pussies, which was hard. It mainly meant that Sokka and I wore black shirts and I wore a hat to cover my baldness, but Katara had somehow unearthed a pair of beat-up black combat boots that she wore with skinny jeans. There was a lot a fair amount of black eyeliner on her eyes, which gave the impression that she was some sort of good-girl-gone-back. I was kinda digging it.

The blinds were all pulled down on the old gym, and just as Sokka said, there was a guy wearing grungy clothes covered in dirt, smoking hookah. He looked up at us and his eyes narrowed.

"We're here for the Bowling Club," I said, trying to sound badass.

"How do you take your martini?" He said, a scowl on his face. We clearly were not the usual clientele.

I was about to answer, but Katara put a hand on my arm. She leaned over, subtly pulling her shirt down, and though I couldn't see anything, I saw his eyes widen.

"Hard as diamonds," she said softly.

He had not taken his eyes from her tits. "Oh, yeah," he muttered. "Head on in."

Katara stood up, winked and then led the way through the door.

"Hot damn," I said.

"I knew I bought this skanky shirt for a reason," she said.

It quickly became impossible to hear anything else, because old-school Blink 182 was blasting through the speakers. The entire room had been converted, with a fighting ring set up in the middle of the basketball court and high bleachers on every side. We picked some good seats not too far from the front, and though we drew some stares, nobody pressed. The crowd was rough, with lots of piercings, tattoos and multicolored hair.

"This seems like Suki's kinda place," Sokka observed.

"I don't know, dude, she doesn't have any tattoos," I said.

"That we know of."

"Welcome, motherfuckers!"

A tall guy with stringy black hair climbed into the ring and leered at us. The entire crowd roared.

"Settle down, cocksuckers! You made it to Earth District MMA, where the best fighters in the Capitol are here to beat the shit out of each other! You know the rules – single eliminations. You win, you keep going. You lose, tough shit. Need five seconds on the mat, a tap-out, or KO to win. No groin shots – stop booing, you fuckers, do you want _your_ dick punched? The last one standing gets to face our defending champion –_without gloves_."

I was a little terrified. The crowd was already screaming for blood. I looked at Sokka and Katara and found both of them just as scared as I was. Jesus, these Earth kids were a tough crowd.

"First, let's welcome, Aaron 'The Boulder' Mizuki, and Tommy 'The Hippo' Kakawashi!"

What the fuck kind of names were those? But as the fighters entered the arena, I understood why. The Boulder was a gigantic, ripped guy, and the Hippo was big and fat. They both looked way too old to be in high school.

"You ready to get the shit kicked out of you, Hippo?" The Boulder taunted.

"The Hippo is angry," he growled. "The Hippo's gonna eat you alive."

"On three – " Chang said. "One – two – "

Both fighters sprang forward before three and began throwing punches. The crowd screamed and yelled as I sat fascinated. I'd never seen fighting that depended so much on raw power before. Both guys took punch after punch without flinching. Did they have any agility?

The Boulder was at least smarter than the Hippo. When the Hippo threw a punch, he dropped, dodged it, and aimed a good punch to his chin. While the Hippo stumbled, he took body shots, pounding away at the Hippo's fat. Finally, he knocked him to the floor, sat on top of him, and began pounding the shit out of his face. Chang stepped in, pushed the Boulder off, and yelled,

"Boulder wins!"

He threw his hands up in the air and roared along with the crowd. The Hippo glared and headed off.

"What about the Boulder?" Katara said. "Everybody loves him."

"I love him," Sokka said.

"I don't know, dude," I said. "He seems like kind of an ass. I don't know if he'd help."

Katara had a point though. The Boulder was very popular, and a fantastic fighter. He cut through the rest of the competitors like a breeze, even as they got more and more difficult. Sokka screamed with the crowd and I was really starting to think the Boulder might be our best choice when Chang got up in the ring. The lights suddenly dimmed, only a single spotlight on the ring.

"Alright, dickwads, we've made it. The moment you've all been waiting for – the championship match."

"No one can defeat the Boulder," Sokka said. "He's too good."

I found myself agreeing. This guy was a beast.

"As is traditional, neither the Boulder nor the champion will wear gloves – just tape. Makes things a little more interesting."

The Boulder dramatically took off his gloves, and some assistants ran up to wrap his hands in tape. The whole crowd was stomping their feet, building up like a stampede of rhinos for the champion. The Boulder stepped back into the ring, flexing his shoulders. A small figure was making his way up the stairs on the other side of the ring.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Chang yelled, trying to make himself heard over the screams of the crowd, "your defending champion for twelve weeks in a row – The Blind Bitch!"

The tiny figure coming up to the ring finally stepped into the light just as the crowd roared. It was a _girl_. And not just any girl – a tiny girl, maybe 5-2 on a good day, wearing a black tank top and Soffee shorts. I squinted closely and saw that her eyes were a milky green.

"No way," Sokka said. "The defending champion is a _girl_? A _blind_ girl?"

"You're kidding me," Katara said. "This can't be right. She can't really be blind."

The crowd was now chanting "Blind – Bitch! Blind – Bitch!" Some of them were even holding up posters. The Bitch cracked her knuckles, a smirk on her lips. She had a whole lot of black hair thrown back in a bun and thick bangs.

"There's a mistake," The Boulder said, looking to Chang. "I'm not fighting a _blind_ girl."

"Then I'm taking the belt home again," she said without skipping a beat, "and you're a pussy."

The crowd screamed its approval. I was sitting on the edge of my seat.

"On three – one – two – three!"

The Boulder stayed frozen, judging what the Bitch was going to do. She casually got down in a fighting stance, her fists up.

"Come on, sugar," she said, "show me what you got."

The Boulder pulled up his lips and ran forward, aiming an incredibly slow punch at her, assuming she wouldn't see it. But she ducked under it easily, spun out, and kicked him straight in the ear.

He staggered to the side, swearing, and she stood up with her hands on her hips. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I hurt your feelings?"

He growled and ran towards her, aiming for her ribs, but she spun to the side and clocked him in the jaw. The crowd was on its feet. The Boulder apparently decided he was done messing around and came forward, punching and punching. She put up her hands, blocking his fists, and then, the second that he slowed down, she aimed a punch, straight and true, right to his nose. Blood splattered the ground as he fell to the floor, screaming. The Bitch walked casually over, flipped him with her foot, sat on his back, and pulled his arms behind his head.

"One – two – three – " Chang counted.

Katara, Sokka and I were speechless. What the fuck had just happened?

"Four – five! The Blind Bitch wins again!" Chang yelled.

There was complete pandemonium. The crowd got to their feet, screaming, yelling, throwing things. The Bitch got up, formed her fingers in a pistol and shot the crowd, then walked off. I watched closely and finally found some sign that this girl was actually blind – she walked into the ropes at first, readjusted herself, and then walked down the steps.

"It's her," I said. "It's gotta be her."

While everyone else started to get up and leave, the three of us stole out and snuck out the way that the Bitch had gone. We followed a back unlit hallway to a small weight room, which at this point only had a few scattered weights and broken machines, and a punching bag hanging from the ceiling. This was where the Bitch was.

For a moment we all just observed her. I had never seen another girl like her. Where Katara and Suki were tall and thin, with subtle curves, this girl was like a concentrated version of a female. She could barely tip the scales at 125 soaking wet, but every fiber of her body was packed with muscle. Her arms, legs, back were ripped, bristling just beneath the surface of her pale skin. Beneath her tiny shorts, her thick little legs kicked the bag. When her black tank top raised up, we could see a flash of a black tattoo on her tramp stamp. She was built like a Corvette – curvy, thick, smooth.

She stopped in her punching. "Who the fuck are you?"

I didn't realize she'd heard us come in. "Uh, hi. My name's Aang, and this is Katara and Sokka. We, uh, we just saw you fight."

"Yeah?"

"We want to ask you something."

She slowly turned around to look at us – well, I guess not. She really was blind. I could tell from the way that her eyes didn't concentrate on anything, focusing somewhere off in the distance. I hadn't realized how thick her bangs were – they almost covered her eyes. She had a pug nose with a small silver ring in it, but that was the only jewelry she wore.

"Seriously, who are you."

"I'm Katara Hatori," she said, immediately, "and I'm a junior from the Water District. Sokka's my brother. Aang is a sophomore from the Air District."

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment, and Katara continued. "We have kind of a crazy request."

"Will you vote for me for Prom King?" I said. "And will you help us convince the other Earth District kids to vote for me too?"

Sokka, in particular, could not take his eyes off the girl. Even though her arms were folded over her chest, she had an amazing rack. I saw his eyes travel down to her thick hips, the hint of skin showing between her tank top and shorts.

I was prepared to defend my case, fresh off Yue's death, ready to say why I had to win in order for the world to become right again, but –

"No," she said simply. Then she turned back to the punching bag and started throwing blows.

"No?" I said. "You didn't even hear why!"

"I don't care why," she said, her voice gravelly. "This is not my problem. Y'all can wage your war against the Fire District. But leave me out of it."

"But, you have to – "

"GODDAMN IT, TOPH!"

We all turned around to see Chang, the referee, standing in the entrance, looking furious.

"What?"

"What the fuck is this that I found in your locker?" He said, brandishing a liquor bottle at her.

"I don't know," she said levelly, "I'm fucking blind, remember?"

"It's alcohol! You know we can't have contraband substances in the arena! You're only fifteen, for Chrissakes!"

"Bullshit," she said, "You go check the Boulder's locker, he's got like five ounces of weed and some X too. I've seen you assholes drinking after matches right in the ring."

"Yeah, but since your dumbass is blind, the Disability Services would be all up on our dicks if they found out about it. I swear to God – "

"Don't bring me being blind into this," Toph snapped. "I've been doing this for two years, I ain't never got your ass in trouble."

"Don't care," he said, grabbing her by the arm. "We gotta have a talk. And you! What the hell are you doing here? Are you even Earth District?"

"Of course!" Sokka said quickly. "We're just leaving. Hoping to talk to the Blind Bitch."

"Yeah, well, get the fuck out," he said, still leading Toph out of the room. "Oh, you are in trouble, little miss Beifong…"

_Beifong_?

They exited the room, and the three of us stared at each other in shock.

"Beifong? You don't think they mean _the_ Beifong family?" Katara said.

"I don't see what else they could mean," I said. "She's got to be a member."

"But she said no! We need to get another chance to talk to her," Sokka said.

I turned to Katara. "You still got that invitation to the Beifong gala?"

She realized what I was talking about, and her eyes widened. "Oh, my God, Aang, we can't…"

"What? What is he talking about?" Sokka said.

"Better wash that eyeliner off," I said, "cause we're crashing that gala."

* * *

The next night, I put on my best suit and a simple green tie and prepared to head out. Grandfather was sitting in the living room, petting Appa and Momo at once, a book open on his lap.

"Hey, Grandpa?" I said. "Can I go out with Katara and Sokka tonight?"

He looked up and smiled. "Why, Aang! You look great! Where are you headed?"

I tried to come up with a story, and then realized there just wasn't. "I'm going to crash a fancy Earth District gala in order to convince a blind kickboxing girl to vote for me for Prom King."

Appa tilted his head at me.

"Well," Grandfather said, "in that case, you need a bow tie. Here, I've got a great green one."

My grandfather was the shit.

After that, then I started the short walk to Sokka and Katara's. He'd also given me a cool dark gray pageboy cap, to cover my baldness. I buzzed at the door, and Sokka's voice came through – "Come on up, bro."

I made my way up to the fifth floor and knocked. Sokka answered, already wearing the suit he'd worn to Yue's funeral with a thin black tie. "Dude, nice bow tie!" He said, letting me inside.

"Thanks dude, my grandpa gave it to me. He's awesome. Where is this thing anyway? It's kinda cold outside."

"It's actually right around the block, at the Capitol Country Club. I think the actual Beifong residence is over in the Earth section of town. Katara, are you ready?" He hollered.

"I can't decide what to wear!" she yelled back from the bedroom. "Aang, come help me."

I headed down the hall, turned a corner to the bedroom –

"Jesus Christ, Katara, put some fucking clothes on!"

"What?" she said, completely nonplussed that she was standing in front of me wearing just a pair of black Spandex volleyball shorts and a black bra, her beautiful coppery skin gleaming like she'd just lotioned it. She didn't even look at me, just looked through her closet with a frown on her face.

"I mean, holy fuck, you're wearing a bra!" I said. My boner was literally throbbing. I couldn't think straight while she was looking like this.

"Oh, calm down, Aang, it's not like you've never seen a girl in just her bra before."

_Au contraire, m'lady._

"Which one should I wear?" She pulled out two blue dresses, the one that I'd seen at Homecoming and another simple knee-length blue dress. "I can't decide."

I worked really hard to keep eye contact. "I mean, we're going to an Earth District party. Do you own anything green?"

She frowned and said, "I mean, yeah, it's a little small though."

"Try it."

She dug around in the back of the closet and found a skin-tight silk dress in a gorgeous pastel green. I could tell it would pop against her dark skin.

"No, seriously, that one."

She stepped into it, then turned around for me to zip it. _Holy shit_. The skin of her back was soft and smooth. I zipped it up with trembling hands. She turned around and smiled at me. Her hair and makeup were already done, and her hair fell in a curly side ponytail over her right shoulder. She quickly clipped on a necklace of carved stone and slid into her super skanky black high heels.

"What do you think, Sokka?" She called out.

I wasn't having much more luck thinking straight now that she was wearing this dress. Sokka came in and nodded. "Looks good, sis. Let's get Earthy up in this bitch."

The walk over was cold, and Katara's exposed legs didn't do her much good. She pulled the invitation out of her sequined bag and said,

"It says Admit One, plus date. So only two of us can get in."

"You two go in," Sokka said. "I can sneak in. Something tells me Aang doesn't exactly have a record of juvenile delinquency, and probs wouldn't be very good at this."

"And you do?" I said. All the same, the thought of being Katara's date, even if it was just for pretend, was awesome.

We split as we neared the entrance to the country club, where a valet was opening doors to the limos. Sokka slunk into the shadows to try and get through the fences, while Katara and I strode up. He looked us up and down and narrowed his eyes, but Katara showed him the invitation and smiled.

He looked down at the number, and then checked a clipboard he carried. "Well, hello, Miss Akina. This must be your date?"

"Yes," she said, "This is Aang Hatori."

"Welcome," he said, gesturing to the door. "The Beifong family is excited for your arrival."

We nodded and walked up a literal red carpet, surrounded by people wearing much fancier clothes than us. Katara gripped my arm and we walked through the doors. Inside, a giant green-clad crowd swarmed around, gossiping softly, as a string orchestra played in the corner. A waiter handed us champagne with a smile, and we slowly stepped down the stairs to the main ballroom. A huge buffet was set out at one end, and I immediately could see shrimp, caviar, and a whole bunch of fancy cheeses.

"Holy shit," Katara whispered.

"Amen," I replied. I took a long sip on my champagne, maybe to calm my nerves. We walked to the buffet table to wait for Sokka to arrive. One woman smiled at us and said,

"Hello, and welcome! I'm Lao Beifong's sister, Miya. Are you enjoying the festivities?"

"Yes, very much," Katara said smoothly. "I'm Katara Akina, and this is my date, Aang Hatori."

"How do you do?" She said, as we shook hands. "How do you know Lao and Poppy?"

"Friends of Toph's from school," I replied. Well, it was half-true.

Immediately her face fell. "Oh, that poor girl. I'm so glad she has friends. Such a shame, you know."

"What?" I said.

"She's _blind_," she said in a stage whisper. "It's been torture on her parents, having to raise a disabled child." She paused, and then added as an afterthought, "And probably hard on the dear girl, too."

"Don't worry, Miya," I said, "I think she gets along just fine."

We managed to shake Miya and load ourselves up on food, giving each other weird looks. I was trying to eat a prosciutto-wrapped cheese as delicately as I could when I heard –

"Psst."

We turned around to find Sokka casually emerging from the men's bathroom, straightening out his tie and smiling.

"How'd you get in?" Katara hissed.

"Hid in the back of the groundskeeper's golf cart," he replied, helping himself to caviar. "Drove right past the guards. Then I found the underground passage that leads to the bathroom."

"Wow," Katara said, reluctantly impressed.

"I know, it's really a shame this kind of stuff is illegal, I could get a good job," Sokka said. "Well, let me finish this, and then we'll go Toph-hunting."

I was almost reluctant to pull away from the food, but eventually we started casually walking through the crowd. I thought it would be easy to find her, but I supposed she was dressed like all these other high-society girls, not like an MMA fighter. A few girls from school saw us and glared, knowing we weren't Earth District, but thankfully they didn't say anything. I was just about to suggest that Katara go check the girl's bathroom when we heard –

"Oh, I know, it's a miracle she can even go to a normal high school, we were so worried – "

The three of us shuffled over as quickly as we could.

"I mean, I don't know what she's going to do afterwards, but she seems determined to go to college, I don't know why, she could just live with us – "

We finally squeezed our way in and found a tall man with a Fu Man Chu standing, talking to a few relatives, his hand on the shoulder of a porcelain doll that I barely recognized as Toph. Her hair was slicked down, falling in soft waves down her chest. They had put her in a traditional green kimono with a tight obi that I figured must be restricting for her, since she stood straight up like she was forced into that posture. Her nose ring was out, but there were thick gold hoops in her ear, and around her neck, a tiny charm on a chain – it looked like a flying pig. She stared straight ahead with a completely blank face, just a slight hint of tension between her eyebrows. They were talking about her like she wasn't there.

"Mr. Beifong, why did you never try to have another child? Try and succeed?"

Succeed? I stared at Katara, who had a horrified expression.

"Well, we knew it would be hard enough work raising a blind child, we thought we'd have our work cut out for us. It has pained us though, that our only child has to be incomplete like this – "

"I'm going to get more food," Toph said. They completely ignored her.

"I mean, she's such a sweet girl, and she does her studies well, I just worry, I mean, what will become of her? How could she possibly survive – "

"_I'm going to get more food_," she proclaimed. The conversation stopped and her father squeezed her shoulder.

"Would you like someone to come with you to get the food, dear?"

"No, I can do it," she said, and turned around. There was a carved wooden blind cane attached by a loop at her wrist, and she held it in front of her and began to sweep small circles as she headed to the food table. She bumped a couple people's ankles, and they tittered and patted her on the head, which only made the crease between her eyebrows increase.

We watched as she got her food and then headed to a small chair in the corner. That was my chance. I strode forward.

"Uh, hi, Toph."

She sat straight up and glared. "What the hell? The kid from the ring?"

"Yeah, it's Aang," I said. "And Katara and Sokka."

"How did you get in here?" she said, her voice low. "You need an invitation to get in here, and I sure as hell didn't invite you."

"We kinda gatecrashed," I said. "We really need to talk to you. I really think you're the person we need for our social movement. You – "

"How did you do it?" Sokka butted in. "In the ring. How did you beat the Boulder?"

She frowned, and then put her food down on the floor. With a small exhale, she pulled her hair behind her ear. There it was, so small I could hardly tell it was there – a flesh-colored hearing aid, resting on her ear.

"My hearing aids are really state-of-the-art," she said. "When I'm close to people, I can hear their movements, the sound the air makes when they strike. My parents got them for me when I told them it helped me move around. It's only when I'm in big crowds, like this, or unfamiliar places that I need to use the cane."

"Is that frustrating?" Katara asked, her voice full of sympathy.

"Of course it is," Toph said, her voice with just a tinge of emotion. "It sucks. And I can't show anybody how self-sufficient I actually am, how I can take care of myself just fine."

"There's a way," I said. Toph turned to the sound of my voice. "You can help us defeat Ozai."

"Why?" she said.

"Because he's a bully, and he – "

"No, I know why you're trying to defeat him," she said. "He's an asshole and he dominates the school. You're the last Air District kid, you've got a right to avenge the death of your people. I get that. I was at Princess Yue's funeral. What I'm asking is, why me?"

She was smarter than she let on. I stared at her eyes and had the weird thought that even though her eyes were functionally useless, they were more expressive than almost every other girls' I'd ever met.

"It just had to be you," I said simply.

She looked up at me and for a moment her face softened. Katara and Sokka exchanged a glance. Were we getting through?

Then a waiter came up to me and said, "Hats aren't allowed in the dining hall, sir. May I take your hat?"

"Uh, no, that's okay, I like wearing it," I said.

"Sir, I must insist. It's disrespectful to the Beifongs."

"Uh, actually – " Toph said.

The waiter narrowed his eyes and reached up to pluck the hat off my head. Then he gasped.

"He's from the Air District!"

The whole room swiveled to me. Toph's father gasped, and the security guards strolled over.

"How the hell did you get in here? This party is for friends of the Beifongs only."

"And these two!" The waiter said, pointing to Sokka and Katara. "Look at their skin! They're Water District!"

"This is breaking and entering," the security guard said, and suddenly I found my hands roughly shoved behind my back. My heart slammed in my throat. "We'll have to take you guys downtown."

Downtown? What? Just for breaking and entering? The other security guard pulled out handcuffs for Katara –

"STOP."

Now everyone turned to Toph, who had stood up. "They're with me. I told them they could come."

"But, Miss Toph, they're not from the Earth District – "

She walked over and gave him the best puppy dog eyes I'd ever seen. "Are you really going to deny a poor blind girl her friends, even if they're not from her district?"

_Damn_, I thought. _Chick knows how to play her cards._

"Of course not, Miss Toph," the security guard said, releasing us. The handcuffs went back in his belt, and Katara sighed. "We'll still have to ask them to leave though."

Toph crossed her arms and glared, but she didn't protest. The guards grabbed our shoulders and lead us out. As we left, I looked over my shoulders. Toph's parents were scolding her, but her face was still turned to us, her blank eyes searching. Sokka in particular looked very sad to see her go.

* * *

On Monday, we arrived back at school, all a little shell-shocked from the events of the weekend. The three of us sat in silence at our usual spot when Haru hurried up.

"Guys! How did the ring go? Did you find someone who can influence the Earth kids?"

"Yeah, we did," I said, "but I don't know if she's gonna do it."

"_She_?" Haru said.

"She's a five-two blind girl who kicks hard ass," Sokka said, his voice numb with awe. "She's a fucking _dime_."

"Well, it doesn't matter," Katara said, "cause since we broke into her family's party, I don't think she's too inclined to us right now."

"You broke into her family's party?"

"Yeah, she's the Beifong's daughter."

"Holy shit – "

"Hey! Haru!"

We turned and I felt a sinking in my stomach when I saw a lot of the Earth fighter come hulking up to us, anger all over their big, stupid faces.

"Why does this always happen to us?" Sokka muttered.

"Are you the one who told these idiots how to get into the ring?" The Boulder yelled. "Chang tracked 'em down, and none of them are Earth District! You're damned lucky _you_ even know the passcode, you fucking pussy."

"_And_ we know you broke into the Beifong party!" One of them said. "I was there, and I saw them throw you out!"

"Seems like you should've been thrown out," Katara snapped, "since you're clearly too ugly to be invited to a classy party like that."

Their faces registered the shock, and Sokka elbowed Katara. "Goddamn it, Katara," he muttered.

"Look, guys, they didn't do anything," Haru said, standing his ground. "It's not that big of a deal."

"It's a deal of Earth District _pride_!" The Boulder yelled.

"_That doesn't even make sense!" _Sokka yelled back.

They cornered us against the wall and leaned in. Were we seriously about to have to get into a fight again? I'd done more brawling in this one semester than I had in my whole life. Seeing no other choice, I put up my dukes, and Sokka and Haru got down too.

"Come on, guys, we were just trying to talk to the Blind Bitch," Katara said.

The Boulder scoffed. "_Her_? Shouldn't have to look in a ring for her. Go look in the fucking disability services office for that fucked-up – "

"_Excuse_ me?"

That voice. Suddenly the Boulder's face dropped, and they all turned around. Toph was standing behind them, hands planted on her hips. She was wearing tiny shorts, fishnet tights, black Doc Martens, and a long-sleeved black shirt. A flat-brimmed cap was pulled low over her eyes, her hair in a messy bun at the nape of her neck.

"The Blind Bitch," the Hippo whispered.

She took a step forward, and they all shrank away. "What the _fuck_ were you saying about me?" She said, her voice full of venom.

None of them answered. The rest of us held our breath. Finally the Boulder grew some balls and stood up straight.

"I said, your ass belongs in disability services, not a ring."

She said nothing, blinking for a few seconds. "That so?"

"Yeah," he said, his voice shaking.

She pouted her lips, turning her head. I could tell she was hearing where everyone was. Then she dropped her backpack, tossed her hat to the side, and went to work.

If I thought she was dangerous in the ring, she was a fucking monster when there were no rules. Within five seconds, she'd incapacitated three of them by kneeing them in the balls. The Hippo ran up to pin her arms behind her head, but she slammed her foot into his insole and then elbowed him in the stomach, making him stumble backwards. Then – like this was a fucking Jackie Chan movie – she jumped up and roundhouse-kicked the Boulder right in the _face_. I literally saw his whole jaw move to the side as he fell to the ground. The Hippo was just getting up, but she walked over and casually punched him in the nuts, which sent him down howling too.

Then she walked over to the Boulder, grabbed him by his hair, and dragged him up so he was looking her right in the eyes.

"Feel that, asshole?" She murmured, her voice suave and deadly. "That's how it feels to get your ass kicked by a _disabled_ girl. And if I hear you talk about me like I'm a fucking wilting flower one more time, you'll get this delightful feeling again. Kapesh?"

The Boulder nodded.

"I'm blind, dickface. So I can hear you."

"Yes," he stammered.

She frowned, considering the validity of his statement. Apparently it didn't pass muster, because she kneed him in the chest before turning to casually pick up her backpack and hat, which she pulled down over her bangs.

"Let's roll," she said to us.

Haru looked a little timid and quickly hurried off into the hallway, but Sokka, Katara and I followed her. We walked back to campus, her fingers hooked around her beltloops.

"Hey, Toph?" Sokka said.

"Sokka, right?"

"Yeah. Uh… I just wanna say…I think you're my hero."

She smiled. An actual smile. "Well, pretty boy, I'll take it. Now what's all this about saving the world or whatever bullshit we're trying to do?"

Katara and I exchanged a smile.

And that was how a blind MMA fighter became a part of our group.

* * *

**Wooo Toph! As is pretty obvious, I have a massive lesbian Toph boner. I basically want to be her. And I just got a flame about how I characterized Toph in my other story, so...I made her super badass here. Haters gonna hate. Also, I wrote most of this listening to 'Crazy Bitch' by Buckcherry, which was a fabulous writing experience that I highly recommend. Alright, you guys are the shit, I'm gonna try and keep em coming as fast as I can! Review! All my lovin - PVB**

**PS. I clearly know nothing about MMA fighting besides the Youtube videos I've been watching. I'm also banking on this being an AU, so MMA fighting here doesn't have to be the same as MMA fighting in the real world. If you're gonna flame about that, please make it constructive flames, so I can improve on Toph's fighting as the story goes on. Thanks! :)**


	11. Beginnings

**Chapter Eleven – Beginnings**

* * *

We all kinda thought that once another girl would be added to the group, the level of testosterone would have to go down and we would be subjected to more of Katara's random freak-outs about how her hair and makeup looked, or maybe Toph would blubber with her about her relationship with Haru. We were so wrong.

"So then I'm sitting there, in the locker room, taking care of my business, and he's fucking jacking off! So I'm like, 'Dude, there something I should know?' And he looks me dead in the eyes and _keeps going_."

Toph was in stitches over Sokka's story. She had a deep belly laugh that was so refreshing. "Oh, God, the ways of the male psyche never fail to amuse me. I have no idea why you have to masturbate so much."

"Clears the brain, you know?"

"Well, yeah, don't think I don't diddle my button like a fucking fiend, but I don't need to do it _every other day_."

"Hey! I can make it two days now!" Sokka said proudly. He was clearly not as freaked out as I was about the fact that Toph not only masturbated, but was talking openly about it.

Katara and Haru walked up, kinda giggling softly. Another reason I loved Toph – I was no longer the only one who rolled their eyes at their lovey-dovey crap (though I assumed it was for entirely different reasons).

Katara glared at Toph, which was useless, pecked Haru on the lips and said good-bye as he headed into the main hall. Then she plopped down beside us.

"Whaddup, sweetness," Toph said, her new nickname for Katara. She was the master of nicknames. For some reason I didn't understand, I was 'Twinkles'.

"Hey, Toph," she said. "Aren't you cold?"

Toph shrugged. Unlike Katara, who generally switched up her outfit and jewelry every day, Toph seemed to not give a shit that she dressed almost exactly the same every day. Maybe it was because she was blind, maybe it was because she really just didn't care. Either way, every day she wore either black skinny jeans or shorts with tights, and a long-sleeved black T-shirt. Sometimes the shirts would have band names blazoned across the chest – The Who, Sum 41, The Doors, The Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers. If it was cold, she wore her black Doc Martens. If it was warmer, she wore olive green Converse. Somedays she wore her hat, but every day she wore her hair in a messy bun, with her thick bangs hanging low over her eyes, her silver nose ring just poking out. She seemed fairly oblivious to cold.

"I can handle it. I hear Haru shivering even though he's wearing a huge coat."

"Do you dislike him or something?" Katara said. We'd learned very quickly that directness was the best approach with Toph.

"You can do better," she said. My heart leapt up in my throat.

"You don't even know me!" Katara said.

"Exactly," Toph replied. "I've known you for a whole week and I can tell that you can do better than that pansy ass. That boy's never stood up for anything in his life. And you know what they say – if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."

The bell rang, and we all stood up to go to class. Katara had a puzzled look on her face, but Toph amiably punched her in the arm.

"Chill out, sugar, you got a nice ass. You'll find a guy."

Katara burst out laughing. "How could you tell?"

Toph winked and headed back into the hall, swinging her cane. The three of us stood giggling, before Katara turned to us and said,

"No, seriously, how could she tell? Did she…like, cop a feel?"

Sokka laughed again. "Dude, this girl is _priceless_."

At lunch, one of us had to go and find Toph and bring her over. It annoyed her, but she was getting the hang of the route, and pretty soon would be able to make it there on her own. Our lunches could not have been more different – I had a salad with pita chips and goat cheese (brought from home); Toph had a giant hamburger, smothered in ketchup, that looked like it had been recently killed.

"Dude, nice hunk of meat," Sokka said reverently as we sat down.

"Protein and iron, homeskillet," she said, setting her backpack down. "Important for kicking ass."

Katara laughed and started to pick at her Chinese food. "So, Toph, which Earth kids did you sit with before us?"

For some reason, Toph stiffened up. We all watched as she took a slow bite of meat. After chewing thoughtfully for a while, she swallowed and said,

"Uh, none of them."

"Who'd you sit with, then?" She asked.

"Uh…that would be nobody."

None of us knew what to say. Toph ducked her head down and kept eating her burger.

"Who did you sit with last year?" Katara asked, sounding like she dreaded the answer.

Toph pursed her lips and turned her blank eyes to Katara's face. It was still kind of unnerving. "That would also be nobody."

Oh, shit. Sokka and I shared a glance, thankful she couldn't see it. I felt a weird mixture of pity and shock. Seriously, no one had ever wanted to sit with this girl? Or was it the other way around?

"Sweetie, I'm really sorry," Katara said.

Toph shrugged. "It's okay. I figure I kinda freak people out. I thought that fighting would help that, but it just made people more intimidated. C'est la vie."

"Well, we're sure glad you're with us now," Sokka said.

She cocked a smile. "You guys probably could use some more muscle."

"Speaking of, how do you plan on convincing the Earth kids to vote for me?" I asked.

"Oh," she said, speaking through a mouthful of burger, "I hadn't really thought that far ahead. When do you need this done?"

"I mean, as soon as possible, we want to get a big contingent together before Prom."

"Okay," she said, putting her burger down. "Where's the nearest table of Earth kids?"

We looked around, and Katara said, "There's one by the pillar over there. A whole bunch of guys."

"Great," Toph said. "Lead me over there."

She took up and took my arm, and we headed over. The bunch of guys turned to us and glared.

"Blind Bitch?" one of them said.

"Damn straight," she said. "Now listen. See this kid? This is Aang Nomad. Say hi, Aang."

"Hi."

"He's the last one of his people left. And because he's filled with righteous fury, he's running against Ozai for Prom King to make everything right in the world. He needs everyone he can get, and you're all going to help by voting for him, no matter what Ozai says."

The kids sized me up. Jesus, were all Earth district guys this huge? Toph and I looked like children compared to them. "I still don't see any good reasons to vote for this kid," one of them said, glaring at Toph.

"You wanna know why you should vote for this kid? I got five good reasons." She held out her hand with five splayed fingers and began to tick them off. "One: I say so. Two: Ozai's dad killed his parents. Three: Ozai is a bully and none of you have the balls to stand up to him, but this skinny bald kid does. Four: This kid is the last of the Air District and we owe it to him after not stopping the destruction of his home."

There was a pause as everybody noticed that she still had her pinky sticking out. "You haven't said the fifth reason," someone said.

"Oh, didn't I? I'm sorry. Here." She tucked her pinky in and slammed her fist against the guy's jaw. As he went reeling backwards, she barked out,

"Reason number five: If you do not vote for this kid, I will come to your house in the middle of the night. I will kick the ever-living shit out of you. I will kick the ever-living shit out of your parents. I will kick the ever-living shit out of your pets. I will kick the ever-living shit out of your _shit_. And when I'm done, I will undress you and give your dick an Indian rug burn the likes of which you have never witnessed in your worst nightmares. Feel me, meatheads?"

I had never been more scared of a fellow human being in my entire life.

"Say yes," she said casually.

"Yes," they all chorused.

She grinned at them, took my hand, and steered me back to the table, where Sokka and Katara were waiting with stunned faces.

"Did you just _punch_ that guy?" Sokka said.

"Yep," she said, continuing with her burger.

"What did he do to you?" Katara said, her voice aghast.

"He was being sassy," Toph said. "The only sass I tolerate is my own. Plus, he was looking at me the wrong way."

All of us shrugged and continued with our lunch, before Sokka slammed the table and said,

"You can't fucking _see_ if he was looking at you the wrong way!"

She burst out laughing. "Dude, welcome to my life. Hashtag-Toph-is-blind. Now do you see why nobody wants to be my friend?"

"Actually," I said, "I don't know why anyone hasn't scooped you up sooner."

She gave me the first real smile I'd ever seen from her. And it was gorgeous.

* * *

"Good news, Zuko."

He looked up to see Ozai on the other side of his locker, his moustache looking awfully smug today. "What's up?"

"Since Zhao's in jail, _you_ get to take Ty Lee to Prom."

Zuko frowned. "Uh…why can't I just take Mai again?"

"Ty Lee's dad is higher ranking than Mai, so she belongs to my second-in-command. Plus, Mai's graduating. She's a has-been. It'll be you and Ty Lee next year, so you should get started now."

"Dude, it's just Prom. Calm the fuck down." Zuko stuffed books in his backpack. "I might not even take anyone."

"You have to take Ty Lee," Ozai said, his voice suddenly dangerous. Zuko looked up and glared. "This isn't a matter of choice. This whole little insurrection thing that Aang has got going on is not good. We need Fire District solidarity."

"Ozai, he's not gonna win. Seriously. Chill out. It doesn't matter. You have been an asshole lately."

"_What_?"

"When was the last time we just hung out and played beer pong? All you do is freak out about Prom. _It doesn't matter_."

Ozai crossed his arms. "I'm gonna tell your sister you said that."

"Oh, I'm fucking pissing myself with fear!" Zuko said, aware that his voice was rising and everyone was staring. "And then what's gonna happen, my sister's gonna kick my ass again? Because that's _never_ happened before! Why don't you just tell her where my balls are, so she can put those in her trophy case right next to _yours_?"

And he slammed his locker and stormed away. He was well aware that he was going to pay for that outburst – Azula was _really_ good at martial arts, and even when their Dad was home, he never tried to stop her from being him up. Lately he'd been able to hold his own, but still. She had no qualms about kicking him in the balls.

He walked out furiously, not sure where he was going, until he found himself walking out to the patio by the softball field where the art building was located. Sure enough, there was Mai, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, all of her hair swept up in a clip, splatters of paint on her smock, leaning over a piece of plywood.

She looked up, saw Zuko's face, and said immediately, "What the fuck did you just do?"

"Ozai's a _dick_."

"Well, yes, we know that, but what just happened to make it look like there's a giant stick up your ass?"

"I told him my sister has his balls in a trophy case."

Mai almost dropped her cigarette. She plunked her paintbrush in the water cup, stuck her hand on her hip and said, "Are you _kidding_ me?"

"It was stupid, I know."

She groaned and held her cigarette between her fingers. "_Zuko_…"

"Stop it, you're making me feel worse than I already do."

Mai just groaned again and tapped the ashes off her cigarette. Ms. Yangchen poked her head out and glared.

"Hello, Zuko. Mai, I told you not to smoke out here! You're not Jackson Pollock, cigarettes do not belong in painting!"

"Okay, Ms. Y," Mai said, flicking it to the ground. Ms. Yangchen smiled and ducked her head back in. As soon as her head was gone, Mai pulled out a pack of Camel Lights – one of the ones that Zuko had given her for Homecoming – and lit it up with a Zippo.

"Why do you do that?"

"What?"

"Chain-smoke."

"Because I'm filled with teenage angst."

Zuko couldn't argue with that. Mai gave him a weird glance out the side of her black eyes, and then turned back to her painting. She tapped off the brush, dipped it in a beautiful indigo color, and began to paint in slow strokes.

"So what are you going to do when Azula bitches you out?" She asked.

"Honestly, I might go stay with Iroh tonight. Talk all this shit out. Delay the ass-kicking."

"She didn't used to be this bad," Mai said, half to herself.

"I know," Zuko said. "Dating Ozai was the worst thing that ever happened to her."

They were interrupted by the sound of running feet, as Ty Lee came jogging up to them. She was wearing her cheerleader practice clothes – running spandex, sneakers, an old, ripped-up t-shirt. Chunks of hair were falling in her face as she grinned.

"What's up, guys?"

"Hey, Ty," Zuko said, looking at her. She was objectively one of the hottest girls Zuko had ever seen. She was just not his type. What was Ozai's deal?

"Listen, Ty Lee," he said, out of the blue, "who do you want to win Prom King?"

Mai snapped her head up. Ty Lee cocked her head to the side.

"Are you asking me as a friend, or as Ozai's right-hand man?"

"A friend. Who won't tell what you say."

"In that case," she said with a pout, "not Ozai. That asshole made me go with Zhao the rapist. He doesn't deserve to win."

Zuko shared a look with Mai. Her eyebrows are drawn low.

"Have you guys heard about what Aang Nomad is trying to do?" He asked.

"Yeah," Mai said slowly, "he's trying to win Prom King."

Zuko pondered. This idea was so fucking crazy, it felt like it was burning his tongue as he waited to say it. Was he seriously considering this?

"I might agree with him," he finally said.

Ty Lee gasped. Mai stood straight up.

"Zuko – "

"No, listen, this kid has something going. Maybe it's time we stop bitching about Ozai and Azula and do something about it."

"They will _kill us_," Mai enunciated. "Kill, do you hear me?"

"I'm not saying do it," Zuko said. "I'm just saying, think about it."

The idea seemed toxic to the other two. Mai puffed on her cigarette, her eyebrows knit low. Ty Lee had her fingers pressed to her mouth.

"Zuko, I gotta go to practice," she said hurriedly. "See you later."

And she sprinted off. Shortly after, Mai plunked her paintbrush in the tub and threw her hands up. "I can't work anymore. You've got my brain all messed up. Let's get out of here."

She propped the painting up against the wall to let it dry and grabbed her bag. Together, they walked over to their cars, Zuko's red Mustang and Mai's black Range Rover.

"What prompted this?" She asked. "This outbreak. What made you fight with Ozai in the first place?"

In the afternoon light, he looked at her, the way that her slanted eyes made her look mysterious, the slight vulnerability of her slim ankles in her black flats.

"We got in a fight cause he told me I couldn't take you to Prom," he replied honestly.

Mai blinked a few times. Her eyebrows softened and she delicately took her cigarette out of her mouth to look Zuko in the eyes. It was like she couldn't decide what to say. This was the first time he'd ever seen her not have an immediate comeback.

"Excuse me."

They turned to see the head of the martial arts club, Suki Kyoshi, standing in front of them, keys in her hand.

"My car's through there."

They scooched out and she walked forward. She glared at them through her fierce eyeliner, and Zuko burst out,

"You're Aang's friend!"

"Yeah," she said, "but what's it to a Fire kid like you?"

"I'm friends with Katara."

Both Mai and Suki raised their eyebrows. "What?" Suki said. "Bullshit. How do you know Katara?"

"I…uh…"

"Listen, Kyoshi," Mai stepped in. "We're a bit disenchanted with this whole Fire District bullshit. Keep us posted on this insurrection business, okay?"

Zuko would remember it as one of the strangest moments of his life; the three of them, standing by Mai's car as the sun set, staring at each other like they'd never seen each other before.

Then Suki cracked a smile. "Aight, bitches. I'll pass the message. Welcome to the rebellion."

She walked to her car, a beat-up green Ford, hopped in, and drove away. Zuko turned to Mai.

"You heard her. Welcome to the rebellion."

* * *

The week could not have been longer. Sokka sat on his bench and leaned back against the fence. The cool air felt good against his skin. He couldn't wait to sit down on the couch tonight. Make some tea, maybe watch something stupid with Katara. It'd been a while since they'd done any real brother-sister bonding. They were both so busy.

He sat up when Toph walked through the gate, her cane held out in front of her.

"Hey! Toph!"

She turned and smiled. "Sokka?"

"Yeah, dude, come on over."

She walked over and plopped down beside him. "You waiting for a ride too?"

"Uh…no…we don't have a car," he said. "I'm waiting for Katara."

He was grateful she couldn't see his blush, as his poverty stood out in stark contrast to this young millionaire. Clearly, though, Toph didn't give a shit.

"Seriously, being poor makes you stronger," she said, stretching her legs out and crossing one ankle over the other. "My entire family's rich and they can't do shit. My dad has to have people dress him and do grocery shopping for him. Trust me, if I could walk to school, I could."

"Does someone drive you?"

"Yeah, I got a chauffeur," she said with a snort. "His name's Mr. Tang. He's nice enough, but he's old and grumpy and I don't really think he likes me that much. Most of the servants don't."

Then she shook her head. "Whatever. Where's Katara?"

"In a National Honor Society meeting with Aang. They're gonna get inducted."

She exhaled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What?"

"They wouldn't let me in," she grumbled. Her voice was so soft when she wasn't yelling. "I made the grades and everything. But they said I couldn't join that one, I had to join the disabled chapter at the Deaf and Blind school in town. It's just…I can't even. This world frustrates me."

"Because you're blind?"

"Not really. I've been this way for a long time. I've learned how to survive without sight. It's the way people _treat_ me because I'm blind. Like I can't take care of myself. Like I'm this poor little girl who has to have everything done for her. You'd think it would mean I have a lot of people looking after me. But I've never had people who really…who cared about me. The real me."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, you don't want to listen to me whine."

"No, it's okay," he said. "I was just…noticing."

"Noticing what?"

"You…I mean…" His entire face was aflame. He couldn't stop the words. "You have a really gorgeous face. I've never seen a face like it. It's incredible to watch it move when you talk. I wish you could see it."

She brushed her bangs out of her face and looked up at him. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," he said, trying to convey his smile in his voice. "I…yeah. Do you…I mean, do you know what you look like? Have you been blind since birth?"

She squirmed around, like she was uncomfortable talking about this, and then said, "Not really. I mean, my sight's been shitty since I was a baby. It's a degenerative eye condition. Even when I could see, it was blurry. Just shapes and colors. I fully lost my sight when I was five, and that was pretty good for a kid with my condition. But I do remember…I knew what was happening. My parents didn't tell me, I heard it eavesdropping. So I knew I wouldn't be able to see anything again. So I went outside, looked at the colors. Green, blue, brown. Even then, they were dulled, gray. But I got to see them. Then I looked in the mirror for about an hour. Tried to see what I looked like. Froze that image in my memory." She paused. "I have no idea what I look like now, and that image is fading, but I remember my hair and my eyes. Even then, they were kinda milky. You could tell I was going downhill. But I remember that green, the color my eyes used to be, before they turned like this. And…a week later I woke up and there was nothing. Just darkness. I've never seen another color since, except in my memory."

Sokka knew the last thing she wanted was pity, but he couldn't stop himself. He thought for a minute and said the most honest thing he could. "Toph, that sucks such hard balls."

She shrugged. "We each have our mountains to climb."

They sat in silence for a while, warm bodies in close proximity.

"You remember colors?"

She nodded, a strange smile on her lips. "Yeah. Green's my favorite. It was warm and cool at the same time. It made me feel new. It's hard to remember, cause it's been so long, but I try hard. Grass and stuff makes me remember what green is. I'm sure that what I think green is isn't what green actually is, but…it's okay."

"Well, if it's any consolation, your eyes are still green."

"Really?"

"Really. Just a tinge. They're like a grassy field lying under a coating of snow."

She wasn't just smiling – she was actually blushing, a sweet, girly blush that reminded him of Yue. Somehow that little nose ring just made her cuter.

"This is crazy, but can I do something with you?"

"What?" he asked.

"Can I touch your face?"

He stiffened up. "What?"

"It helps me know what people look like. That and voices. You can tell me what you look like, but I really just like to touch."

Oh, boy. Even in the cold weather, he suddenly felt hot. "Yeah, sure."

She scooched closer, leaving her backpack on the ground. The breath from her lips turned opaque in the air. Slowly, like she was in a trance, she raised her fingers and placed them gently on Sokka's cheeks. Her fingers were calloused, but she had a soft touch as she ran her fingers up his eyes.

"What color are your eyes?"

"Blue. Like Katara's."

She gave a little laugh and kept going up. "And your hair?"

"It's brown. My skin's brown too. It's a Water District thing."

She nodded, and slowly her hands started travelling downward, brushing over his nose, tickling the tiny moustache he had growing. Then her fingers tripped over his lips.

He couldn't stop it. He kissed her fingertips.

She withdrew her hands with a little gasp and buried them in her lap.

"I'm sorry, I don't know – "

"It's all good," she said, her voice kinda breathy. "No big deal. I was kind of raping your face."

"I enjoyed it," he said honestly. Then a long black limo drove up, with an elderly man sitting in the front seat glaring. "I think your ride's here."

"Oh," she said. "Okay. See you later, Sokka."

She picked up her backpack and was about to go when Sokka yelled out, "Hey, Toph?"

She turned.

"I'm playing a lacrosse game tomorrow night. Here, at school. It's at seven. Would you…I mean…Aang and Katara are going, I was just wondering…"

She paused for a moment, looking flabberghasted that he'd asked her. Then she managed a smile. "Love to, Snoozles. I'll be there."

Then she vanished in the car. The chauffeur glared at Sokka and drove off.

Sokka sighed and pulled his leg up on the bench. The seat beside him was still warm. Those pale eyes danced around in his brain.

"I don't know, Yue," he said aloud, "is this a good idea?"

It came to him, just a simple word, appearing in his head like a prayer,

_Yes._

He smiled. _Tomorrow's gonna be a good night_, he thought.

* * *

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed the character development! #tophisblind is actually something my brother and I came up with when I was showing him the series a month ago. There's also #c*** for Azula and #pussy for Zuko (my brother doesn't like Zuko), but #tophisblind was our favorite, so it made its way into the fic :)**

**Also, I got a comment about the amount to which these kids drink in this fanfic, which I want to address real quickly (you can skip if you want). Frankly, I don't think drinking in high school is that big of a deal, nor do I think it makes you a bad person. If you're responsible about it and don't drive, I think drinking underage is just part of growing up in this modern society. Even though, fun fact, I didn't drink until I graduated high school (this was back when I was religious), Long-Distance Boyfriend started drinking at fifteen and is now a morally upstanding citizen who pays taxes and is not alcoholic. I know plenty of people who were idiots when they drank in high school, and I know plenty of people who drank in high school and ended up fine. I'll attempt to show both of those kinds of people in this fic. These kids have pretty messed-up lives, and frankly I'd much rather they drink than experiment with any of the drugs that I got into to drown out life. Each character will have their own reasons for drinking, which will be explained. Aang will drink lightly, Katara moderately, Sokka kinda heavy, and Toph, Suki and the Fire District kids will go hard in the paint. I'm attempting to depict what _I_ imagine these kids' high school experiences would be like, and in the words of Avatar Korra, 'You gotta deal with it'. I love you guys and I'm so grateful for all the feedback, but drinking will be a big factor in a few upcoming scenes and I'm not taking that out. Anyway, sorry for making you read all that! Next chapter's kinda sad, but I promise no one dies. If you keep giving good reviews, I'll keep punching 'em out! Many thanks - PVB**


	12. Up in Flames

**Chapter Twelve – Up in Flames**

* * *

Toph's fingers gently tripped over the fabric of the clothes in her closet. Why was it that all she owned were T-shirts? She found a soft shirt, her fingers rubbing together on the sleeve. She took it off the hanger and pulled it over her head, relishing the feel of cotton against her eyelashes.

The door opened and she heard the voice of her personal maid, Song. "Toph, guess what? I bribed Mr. Tang so that he'll take the night off and not tell your parents! So I get to take you to your lacrosse game tonight!"

"Seriously? Song, you are the _shit_. Mr. Tang always judges me."

"I'm just happy you have somewhere to go."

Toph gave a bitter laugh and continued dressing. Even though Song saw her struggling to find the right pair of jeans, she sat down on the bed and waited for Toph to ask for help.

See, that was what was awesome about Song. She knew that even though it would take her ten times longer to do things on her own, Toph preferred any measure of independence she could get. Song had been Toph's maid since she was six and Toph was five, when her family was displaced from the Earth District and came to the capital looking for work. She came right when Toph was losing her sight, a scared, angry little girl frustrated with the world. So she learned first-hand how best to work with Toph, how to help her when she needed and how to give her space. If Toph was being honest, Song was the first – and for a long time, only – friend she'd ever had. Her parents didn't like Song because she didn't baby Toph, but Toph knew how Song was supporting a family back in the Earth District, so once a month when her parents tried to dismiss her, she pitched a first-rate temper tantrum and forced them to keep her.

As Toph shimmied out of her shorts and pulled on a pair of jeans, Song saw a giant bruise blossoming on her side, right beside her tattoo.

"Toph, honey, can you just let me look at that bruise?"

"What bruise?"

"Seriously? The one on your side."

"Oh. Dude, it's no big deal. I've had way worse."

Song sighed and shook her head. "I just worry about you. I feel like one of these days when I come pick you up from fighting, I'm gonna have to take you to the hospital."

"Yeah, but you know how much I love it. Maybe one day I can go pro and leave this bullshit." As Song sighed, Toph bit her lip and felt the clothes on her body. Slowly, she turned around.

"Okay, how do I look?"

Song pursed her lips. "What shoes are you wearing with it?"

"My Docs."

"Hmm," Song said, observing Toph. It really was the same stuff she always wore – a black t-shirt and skinny jeans. "Well, that depends. Are you trying to impress this guy?"

"_No_!" Toph said immediately. "Why would I want to do that? God. No fucking way."

"I'm giving you a judging look."

Toph grunted and spun around, stripping off her shirt. "I mean, he's just…I mean, Song, you haven't heard this guy talk. It's amazing. Just…deep and manly, but still full of humor. And his face…he let me touch it. I think I know what he looks like."

"Wow," Song said, knowing what a big deal this was. Song actually was one of the few people that Toph knew what she looked like, or at least what she used to look like – brown eyes, soft brown hair, and a compassionate face. Her voice had never changed. It remained as soft and gentle as it had been when she was six.

"Okay, so what _am_ I supposed to wear?" Toph said, standing in front of her closet, wearing just her bra and panties. "I've never been to one of these…things before."

"You mean a school function," Song said, getting up to walk towards her.

"Yeah. Whatever."

Song laughed and started rifling through the closet. "Well, let's see…ooh, here we go. Try this one."

She shoved a soft white sweater at Toph, who felt it and grunted. "This seems girly."

"It's just a sweater, hun. Plus it's gonna make your rack look huge. Okay, leave the jeans…it's cold, you need them…how about these boots?"

Toph was preoccupied, running her fingers down the neckline in her shirt. "How low-cut is this shirt?"

"Not that low cut, but you have double D's. You're gonna have cleavage no matter what. Put on these boots."

She handed her a pair of slim black leather ankle boots with a tiny heel.

"Dude, I can't do heels. I _will_ trip and embarrass myself in front of this guy!"

"They're like half an inch, you're fine. Just use your cane. Do you want to impress him or not?"

Clearly out of her comfort zone, Toph grumbled and sat down on the bed to put on her boots. Song leaned against the closet door and smiled. It was like getting Cinderella dressed up for the ball.

"So how's school going?" Toph asked.

Song shrugged. "I just shrugged. It's fine. Just got some AP's to take. Not sure which colleges to apply to."

"All of them. You're a fucking genius."

"Yeah, but I need to go somewhere where _you_ can go, so I can be with you."

Toph looked up and glared at Song through her bangs. "Hun. You're way smarter than me. You go wherever you want. I'll be fine."

"But what if your parents don't let you go to college unless I'm with you?"

"By then I'll be eighteen, so fuck 'em. I can get disability funding from the government. They have to let me out of the nest eventually. You need to live your own life. And I need to learn how to survive without you."

"You do fine without me. You only need me to read your homework sometimes."

Toph sighed and pulled her boot on. "Girl, don't feel obligated to be with me. I want you to do whatever you want."

"I'm not with you out of pity or money, I'm with you because you're my oldest friend and I love you and worry about you."

"_Don't_. I can take care of myself. Everyday I'm getting better with the cane, and soon they're gonna invent hearing aids that are even better so I don't need the cane. I'll be fine. Life isn't that bad. Sometimes, it's pretty sweet."

Song stared at this girl with her snowy eyes, looking up at her with an optimistic smile, and thought that this blind girl lived a fuller life than a thousand people with sight. She thanked God Toph couldn't see the tears welling up in her eyes.

But Toph did hear the sniffles, and she got to her feet. "Song? Hun?"

"Sorry, I know you hate me crying…it's no big deal…"

Toph walked forward and wrapped her arms around Song's middle, and the two shared a close hug. That was one of Toph's favorite things about being short – when she hugged people (which was hardly ever), she always felt like she was being wrapped in a big, warm blanket.

"I love you, Song," Toph whispered. "I really do. You make my life awesome."

"You too, short stuff," Song said, "you too." Then she broke the hug and looked Toph up and down. "Much better! The sweater was a good touch. You actually kind of look like a girl."

Toph grunted.

"Can I put some makeup on you?"

"_Fuck_ no."

"Well, can I at least do something to your hair?"

"_No_."

"Have you even brushed it in the past week?"

"Uh…sure?"

"Oh, Jesus." Song pushed her to the bed and grabbed the brush off the dresser. "Stay still."

"Song!" Toph said, squirming around. "What the _fuck_?"

Song kept her to the bed and pulled the brush through her mane, starting at the ends. "Small animals could nest in this shit. And you have such pretty hair. Guys like it when your hair is down."

Toph crossed her arms over her chest and pouted as Song slowly detangled her mess of black hair. "This is my bitter face."

"Oh, I can tell. I'm not the blind one here." Song finally stepped back and said, "There we go! Such a difference just a brush makes." She stroked Toph's bangs to the right with her fingers. "Ready to go make friends?"

Toph smiled. "Not really my forte, but…I'll try my damnedest."

* * *

"Okay, so how does this work again?"

Katara rolled her eyes and pointed her gloved hand. "It's kinda like soccer. There are three attackers – Sokka's one of them – three midfielders, three defensemen, and one goalie. And you have to get the ball in the other team's goal."

I shivered in my sweater and watched as Sokka sprinted across the field, carrying the ball high in his stick. He swerved through a few defenders and launched the ball towards the goal. The crowd screamed, but the goalie blocked it and chucked the ball to one of his men. As they ran forward, Sokka stayed back, by the other team's goal.

"Why isn't he moving forward?" I asked Katara.

"He can't," she replied. "He can't step into the defensive area unless one of our guys is holding the ball. If he does, he'll get an offsides and will have to sit out. Did you _ever_ watch sports in the Air District?"

"Uh…we played pickleball in the Air District."

Toph snorted, and Katara just sighed. "I'm not even going to go there."

Sokka really was very good at lacrosse. He was one of the few on the field who had a long stick, and he waved it around like a maniac, scoring five of the team's goals. Katara and I cheered and screamed and occasionally told Toph what was happening, who sat in the stands munching on popcorn and generally looking very content with life. She'd worn her hair down and a soft white sweater, and she really looked quite lovely.

But there was nothing like Katara all bundled up, a thick pair of earmuffs on, her nose red with cold, hair falling all down her shoulders. "I adore cold," she said to me. "The southern Water District is _freezing_, and it's just awesome. I love the feeling of getting all snuggled up."

"I don't know dude, I can't wait to get into the warmth after this."

"We can go to our house, it's right around the corner. Toph? Do you have to be home right away?"

"Nope," Toph said. "My ride's doing homework at the library, she can come get me whenever."

"Yay! Friends!" Katara said, genuinely excited as she turned back to the game. "Alright, Hatori! Come on!"

Sokka committed a foul early in the fourth quarter and had to sit out for thirty seconds in the penalty box, which got Katara very angry and made her say all sorts of things that I did not really expect from her (who knew the words 'cock', 'fuck' and 'llama shit' could be combined to make so many insults?) But he got back in just in time for a fourth-quarter rally against, coincidentally, the Fire District Bears.

"Go Lemurs!" Katara screamed as Sokka ran down the field. "Show those Bears who's boss!"

"We seriously couldn't think of a better mascot than the flying lemurs?" Toph remarked. "I mean, what the hell _is_ a flying lemur?"

"Oh, they're all over the place in the Air District," I said. "Super smart, really cool little guys. We used to – "

"GODDAMN IT REF, YOU CALL THAT A FOUL? HE WASN'T EVEN TOUCHING HIM! I MEAN, WHAT THE **FUCK**?"

"You know, Katara, this whole rabid sports fan thing you got going on will totally get you jock dick," Toph said casually.

"I'm not looking for dick, I'm looking for a fair call! This is BULLSHIT!" She roared. I'd never seen her this pissed. Toph nudged me with her elbow and raised her eyebrows with a smile.

"Uh, Katara…we're like ten points up, I think we'll be fine…"

"GO SOKKA! KICK HIS SKINNY WHITE BOY ASS!"

"This is awesome," Toph said, munching on her popcorn.

I chuckled and gently brought Katara back to her seat. She flashed me a quick smile and then leaned forward, her hands clenched in her lap. There was only a minute left – one of Sokka's teammates had the ball, running up, got body checked, tossed it off, Sokka caught it, ran to the goal, oh he was close –

"YEEEAAAAHHHH!" Katara and I screamed together. Toph caught on and started yelling too. The clock ran out and Sokka and his teammates ran off screaming. Sokka finally took off his mask and I could recognize him by more than just the number 8 on his jersey.

"Man, that was _awesome_!" I said, waiting for everyone else to go down. "I can't believe I've never been to one of these before!"

"Lacrosse is really big in the Water District, I'm surprised it hasn't caught on here," Katara said, her cheeks still flush from screaming. "Here, come on, let's go find Sokka."

We got up, Toph carefully walking forward with her cane until her hand made contact with the rail and she could step herself down. Plenty of people knew Katara – she waved and giggled and yelled 'Hi' to a whole bunch of moms and dads and little brothers and sisters.

"I've been coming to Sokka's lacrosse games his whole life," she said. "I know everybody here. He used to know everybody at my volleyball games too."

"Why'd you stop? Playing, I mean."

"Oh, I don't know…the girls were, you know…kinda mean…I wasn't that good, anyway. It's no big deal. I was really good at swimming!"

She flashed me a smile, but I tried to read beyond her eyes. Just then, Katara spotted Sokka and threw up her hands.

"That was amazing, bro!"

"Oh man, you guys all came? You are the shit!" Sokka was sweaty and covered in dirt, but he really did look happy. He gave Katara a kiss on the cheek and I high-fived him.

"You were amazing, man!"

"Yeah, from what they told me, you kicked ass," Toph said.

"Toph!" he said, looking at her. "I can't believe you came! I mean…you look like a girl!"

She punched him, but blushed all the same. "It's been known to happen."

"We're gonna head back to the house and make some tea, wanna meet us back there after you shower?" Katara said.

"Fo sho, sis. See you soon!"

He ran back down into the locker rooms, and Katara took Toph's hand. "Come on, sugar, our apartment's over here."

The warm air of the apartment had never felt better. Even Katara had to sigh when she took off her heavy coat.

"Oh, this is _good_."

Toph plopped down on the couch. "It smells really nice in here."

"Yeah, I've got kind of a candle addiction. What kind of tea do you want? We can do rooibos chai, strawberry vanilla, peach momotaro, orange spice, Earl Grey…"

"Orange spice sounds good," I said, hanging my coat up on a pole. Katara smiled and filled up an old-fashioned kettle to boil.

"I didn't know Sokka played guitar!"

The two of us went into the living room to see Toph lovingly holding Sokka's guitar, her fingers running up and down the wood.

"Yeah, it was a present from our dad," Katara said.

"_Sick_," Toph said. Her fingers went up to the neck and formed a chord, and then suddenly she was strumming, a chord progression that I knew –

"Ride With Me," I said with a smile. "Toph, I didn't know _you_ played guitar!"

She sighed and kept playing. Her tiny little fingers changed chords over and over again. "I used to. My parents kinda decided it was worthless so they got rid of my guitar."

"Assholes," Katara said.

"Dude, tell me about it," Toph replied. "Anyway, when I need to feel artsy and shit I just sing now. They can't take my voice away."

"No, they can't," Katara said, sitting down beside Toph on the couch. Toph grinned and started strumming out an old song that I hadn't heard in years –

"I took her out, it was a Friday night, I wore cologne to get the feeling right…"

"We started making out, and she took off my pants, but then I turned on the TV," Katara joined in, a big silly grin on her face. I hadn't realized Katara liked blink-182.

"But that's about the time she walked away from me – "

"Nobody likes you when you're 23!" Sokka burst into the room, singing at the top of his lungs, "and are still more amused by TV shows – what the hell is ADD? My friends say I should act my age – "

"What's my age again? _What's my age again!"_ The four of us sang. Toph struck the last note and raised the guitar in the air like a rock star.

"That's how you do it, bitches."

"Don't go fucking with my dad's guitar now," Sokka said, dropping his lax bag and stick to the floor as he sat down on the couch. Toph passed the guitar to him, and he absentmindedly began plucking chords.

"You did really well tonight, Brosef," Katara said.

"Aw, thanks, girl. Did you two enjoy the Katara Kraziness? With a K, like the fucking Kardashians?"

"Are you referring to the fact that Katara basically shat her pants when you fouled that guy?" Toph said nonchalantly.

"I did not 'shat my pants'", she said, getting up in a huff to go to the kitchen. "That was an improper foul and he had no reason calling it."

"Dude, I punched the guy in the face. Pretty sure he could call it."

"I still beg to differ," she called from the kitchen. "Tea's almost ready."

"Has she told you about the time that she was thrown out of my kindergarten game for cussing? And my second grade game, and my fifth grade game, and my seventh grade game, and that game last month – "

"Mom would have wanted me to express myself," she replied, a small smile on her lips as she brought the steaming teapot into the room.

"Katara, you called a kid a 'fucking shitstick'. You were _five_."

"Yeah, well that little bitch fouled you while you were on the defensive, it was totally out of line."

"I've never been more in love with you," Toph said to Katara.

"Did your parents cuss this much?" I asked.

"It's not that she cusses," Sokka said, "it's that she goes _apeshit_ when I'm in sporting events. It only got worse after Mom died, and then when we moved here it was terrible. I really do think you're gonna get arrested one of these days."

Katara brought out four teacups and started pouring the tea, her long hair falling over her shoulder. "Well, Mom and Dad always went crazy at your games, so when Mom died I had to take over that, and now that Dad's away I have to do double-duty going apeshit. I have a Hatori family reputation to uphold."

The casual way that she discussed this was a little off-putting. She picked up her tea and settled herself into a chair, pulling her jean-clad legs up under her and sipping the tea with a smile. Toph, Sokka and I grabbed ours. The warm tea felt amazing in my hands, but sitting in the room with my friends felt even better.

"Can I ask how it happened?" Toph said. "How your mother died?"

Sokka lowered his eyebrows and drank his tea. But Katara sighed and said,

"I was six. Sokka was seven. There was…it was a Fire District raid. They had a lot of them back then. It was like they were targeting certain people – they'd come in, kill a few people, and then leave. It was March. March 21st, to be exact. And my dad picked us up from school that day and as we drove into the neighborhood, we could see the trucks leaving. And she was there. In the living room. Shot three times through the head." Katara shook her head. "We never really found out who, or why. They came, killed her and then left. No one else was shot. Now, there's a part of me that's glad no one else's parents had to die…but there's still a selfish little girl who doesn't understand why it was _her_ mother that died."

Sokka's disconcerted strumming on the guitar seemed to match the mood. Katara didn't look like she was going to cry – she was just stating facts.

"I'm so sorry," Toph said. "No one should have to go through that. Especially not twice."

She reached out a hand and squeezed my knee.

"They'd be proud of what I was doing now," I said, squeezing back. "This movement…it's exactly the kind of thing that they'd be down with. They were both doctors, and before they had me they used to travel through the various districts, teaching Air District medicine. They didn't believe in borders. So the fact that I'm friends with people from other districts…well, they'd love that."

"Well, we might even have a Fire District ally," Katara said. "Zuko Agni came up to me at Yue's funeral, said he didn't agree with what they did. I don't know. Maybe he's coming around."

"I don't know, Kat," Toph said. "It's hard to trust them. He could be as good of a liar as his sister."

"Yeah, how do we know he won't just turn on us?" Sokka said.

"Jeez, I'm not saying we should tell him our deep dark secrets, I'm just saying he was super nice to me."

"Well, as Sokka has once pointed out to me, that could just be because you have _boobs_," I said, making everyone chuckle.

"Aang, you silly boy, how would you know that he was in it for my boobs?" She said, giving me a sultry look over her tea.

"Well – I just – "

_CRASH_.

Something shattered, spraying glass over all of us. Katara screamed and jumped up on her seat, Sokka and Toph swore, and I threw my hands up. After nothing happened again, I peeked out from my hands, sending shards of glass tumbling through the floor. A cold breeze was flowing through the now-broken window, with a brick sitting on the floor.

"What the fuck?" Sokka said, standing up and shaking glass off before bending down to the brick. "There's something written on it…"

"Oh, God, I don't like where this is going," Katara whispered.

Sokka picked up the brick, squinted at it, and read,

'You know what they say; when you play with fire…'

"What?" I said.

"That's it," he said. "There's nothing else."

The four of us stared at each other for a second.

Then – CRASH – CRASH –CRASH. The beautiful windows shattered one by one, and suddenly they weren't bricks, they were balls of _fire_, and they came from all sides, we heard the windows on the other side getting shattered too, and then there was heat and flame surrounding us.

"Holy shit!" Sokka yelled, jumping up and stomping on the fire balls. Katara and I leapt up and started helping. They were balls of cloth soaked in oil, and more kept coming through the now-busted windows. The smoke alarm went off and began screaming through the apartment.

"What's going on?" Toph cried, reaching out for her cane. "Why is it so hot?"

"We can't stop the fire!" I screamed. The smoke was beginning to sting my nostrils. It didn't feel real, this strange red world that I was suddenly plunged into, watching as chairs and tables and sofas caught on fire like a movie. "Do you guys have a fire extinguisher?"

Sokka pushed his way to the kitchen and found the fire extinguisher, but it wasn't doing anything, the apartment was filled with smoke and I realized with a start everything was going down.

"We have to leave!" I bellowed, my voice sounding acidic.

I heard Katara scream from somewhere, I couldn't see her in the smoke. "This is all we have!"

"There's no time! We have to leave, _now_!"

"I'm not leaving without my guitar!" Sokka yelled. He sprinted back into the living room, jumping over the fire and hurriedly shutting his guitar in the case. I grabbed Toph's cane and handed it to her, pulling her close.

"_Katara_!" I screamed. "Where are you?"

"She's getting Mom's necklace," Sokka said, descending into coughs. "It's all we have left of her."

The heat was beginning to sting, and I could feel the legs of my jeans starting to catch fire. There was no time for this. "Sokka, give me your – _cough_ – guitar. Take Toph and get out. I'll find Katara."

Sokka nodded, his eyes dancing with fire. He handed me the guitar and then, in one fluid movement, scooped Toph up into his arms, clutching tight to her stick. He kicked down the door and I heard his feet pounding down the stairs.

"_Katara_!" I screamed. "_Katara_!" It was just us, alone in this burning house, and I could not leave without her.

"Katara, I'm coming for you!"

I grabbed a dish rag and held it over my nose and mouth as I pushed through to the bedroom. The smoke was acrid, making me woozy, and the whole room spun in shades of red and yellow as I opened the door.

Katara stood by her dresser, surrounded by flame, digging through a jewelry box, her eyes panicked. I ran over and bellowed, "We have to go!"

"Not without my necklace!" She cried, voice thick with tears. So I put my head down and looked with her, remembering the carved stone necklace that she'd worn to the Beifong gala. We pushed through, God this whole place was so damn hot, I was going to pass out –

"Here!" Katara pulled it out from under a pile of necklaces, and I grabbed her hand and dragged her through, pressing the cloth to her mouth. There was a wall of fire blocking our way to the door, and my eyes were bleeding and burning and crying.

"Aang!" She screamed, holding tight to my hand.

I grabbed tight to Sokka's guitar with one hand and Katara's with the other hand. One way or another, I was not letting this girl burn. "Hold tight to your necklace! We're running on three!"

"Okay," she whimpered.

"It'll be okay, sweetie! One – two – three!"

We sprinted through the fire. It burnt up my skin but we kept running, half-tumbling down the stairs, and then the air was clearer and cleaner and cool, and we heard Sokka and Toph's frantic screams as we finally touched down on the ground. Neither of us could stand up – we fell to our knees on the concrete, but Toph and Sokka fell down with us, and suddenly the four of us were in a crushing hug.

"Oh, God…" Sokka muttered. "You guys are okay…oh, thank God…"

Katara just sobbed, and Toph held her close. I saw the fire trucks come up and began spraying the house down with their hoses, as everyone in the building came outside and watched us, four teenagers with burnt clothes, coughing furiously.

The EMTs came up with oxygen masks for us. I grabbed one and sucked greedily on the clean air. "Whose apartment was it?" He asked.

Katara and Sokka raised their hands. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and managed to text Grandfather with shaking fingers.

_Apt. burnt. 1300 Aqua Drive. Come quick_

"Did you guys have fire insurance?"

"I think so," Katara murmured, her voice muffled through the oxygen mask. "I'm not really sure."

The EMT shook his head. "This is a doozy. Worst random fire I've ever seen."

"Oh, it wasn't random," Sokka said. "It was a hate crime."

Then the police had to come and interrogate us, and they recovered the brick with the writing from the building. The fire was finally put down, and they came to tell Katara and Sokka what we already knew – there was practically nothing salvageable. We had stayed sitting on that concrete, and the two siblings looked at the guitar and necklace as the only things that they owned in this world now.

"You're gonna get burnt," Katara said.

"What?"

"That's what the rest of the message was," she said. "When you play with fire, you're gonna get burnt. They want us to stop supporting Aang. But they can't do anything against Aang, cause he's the ward of the government. And they can't do anything to Toph, cause she's too rich. So they came after us. They want us to stop."

"If you don't want to…" I said slowly, the fire sirens still going in the background, "if you want to stop with the campaign, any of you, I totally understand. This has gone beyond high school now. This is real."

Katara clipped the necklace around her neck and allowed Toph to rub her back. Sokka kneaded the heels of his hands into his eyes

"No way," Katara said. We all looked up. "I'm not giving up. If anything, this is just another reason to keep going. These people need to be stopped."

We looked to Sokka, who nodded grimly. "I'm with Kat. This is personal now. We have to win. It's a matter of pride."

Grandfather's blue Prius came up, and he gasped when he saw the damage. He came up and sat behind us, gently stroking Katara's hair.

"I'm so sorry," he said quietly. "The world can be filled with senseless violence sometimes."

Katara and Sokka just nodded.

"Grandfather, this is Toph Beifong. She's the Earth girl we recruited."

"Nice to meet you," Grandfather said, extending his hand. "Wish it could be under better circumstances."

"Same to you," Toph said. "This wasn't how any of us were planning to spend the night."

"I know that sometimes life isn't fair," Katara whispered, "but I just…I mean, what are we going to _do_? Where are we going to live?"

"My dear Katara, what kind of question is that?" Grandfather said. "You're coming to live with us, of course."

All of us snapped our heads up. Was he serious? Something was bubbling in my heart.

"Mr. Nomad, we couldn't…" Sokka said. "We wouldn't want to impose…"

"That's very kind of you, but really…" Katara said.

"Oh, it's very selfish of me, actually," Grandfather said. "You see, I only had one son, and he only had one son, so I've never had a whole brood of grandchildren to spoil. Now that we've moved here, the government gave us a giant house with four bedrooms and tons of money, but I _still_ can't spoil Aang because he's terribly low maintenance and only asked for a cat. So now the opportunity has presented itself for you to come live with us and finally make use of the giant house and loads of money that we have, and I simply can't resist the idea of having more teenagers in the house to liven up my lonely existence."

Sokka and Katara looked flabberghasted. Grandfather just smiled benignly.

"Sir, you can't…I mean…" Sokka said.

"Oh, I'm quite serious, Sokka. The government is so guilty about not stopping the death of my people that they think the way to solve it will be to ply Aang and I with buckets of money. While money will not bring my children back, it does serve its uses. And if the government were to have a problem that I was taking in two Water Tribe children, well, I believe the term is, 'tough shit'."

Now Toph was staring, flabberghasted. I could hear the respect level for my Grandfather shooting through the roof.

"Now, I won't hear any more arguing on the matter. This smoke is bad for you. Come on, let's go." Still stunned, the four of us got to our feet, as Grandfather briskly walked to the police officer.

"Sir, my name is Gyatso Nomad, and I will be taking charge of these children. This is my business card. Please call me tomorrow for any information you need, but for now, I will be taking these children home and giving them warm beds to sleep in."

"Uh…okay, sir."

Grandfather smiled and got into the Prius. We all followed and got in, still silent.

"Now, dear Toph," he said, turning on the car and backing out, "where shall I drop you off?"

"Uh…the main library, if you wouldn't mind. I have a ride waiting for me there."

"Splendid," he said, driving. I was sitting in the backseat with Katara and Toph, and Katara and I shared a wide-eyed glance.

"Now, Katara and Sokka, tonight you'll have a good night's rest. The two extra bedrooms are right across from Aang's, coincidentally. Tomorrow, we'll go out to buy you some new clothes. You've still got your guitar, Sokka?"

"Yes," he said, "Sir, I can't thank you enough…"

"Oh, just call me Grandfather," he said, smiling. "It's an honor to be able to help friends of Aang's in any way that I can."

"Thank you so much," Katara said, her voice tearing up. I held her hand and marveled at the strange twists and turns that life took.

We dropped Toph off at the main library and waited until a cute little maid came out and got her. She waved at us, and we headed back down the silent streets until we came to our huge, ranch-style house. We took Sokka's guitar out and headed into the house.

"Appa, Momo!" I called. Appa came running up and licked Katara.

"Oh, hello, Appa," she giggled. "You remember me?"

"Appa loves people," I said. "Momo will probably be coming out soon."

Grandfather bustled his way down the hallway, flicking on lights. "Aang, don't you have some spare shirts the Hatoris can sleep in?"

"Should be in the laundry," I called back. Sokka just stared around the living room, his eyes wide.

"I can't believe this," he murmured. "We're going to live here? With _you_?"

"My grandfather is actually the shit," I said.

Katara was stroking Appa, who couldn't get enough of her. Her red-rimmed eyes didn't seem so sad anymore. Grandfather came back out, holding some old t-shirts and pajama pants of mine. "These should get you through the night. We'll go get some real clothes tomorrow. You can pick your own rooms, they're both about the same size."

Katara couldn't stop it. She threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Grandfather."

He rubbed her back and sighed. "Don't mention it, my dear. You and your brother are family now."

He shook Sokka's hand and then amiably padded down the hall to his bedroom. Katara, Sokka and I headed to our little wing of the house, where Katara picked the room that she'd slept in the night she got drunk, the room with the soft red drapes. Sokka took the other room, and then the three of us stood and stared at each other.

"Aang…dude…seriously, I can't even…" Sokka said.

"Don't," I said with a grin. "Get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow, eh, roomie?"

Katara gave me a hug too, and the smoke hadn't extinguished her delightful smell, like the ocean. "Goodnight, roomie."

I grinned at them and went into my room. I changed quickly and flopped down onto my bed. Momo came padding up, mewing at me.

"Life is a funny thing, Momo," I murmured, before passing out.

* * *

**Hello friends! See, it wasn't too sad, and we had character development, which is always fun. So I've been planning the next chapter for a while and I'm really excited – it's got Kataang (finally), Tokka and general raunchiness as I attempt to figure out who the fuck Zuko is going to end up with. So hang in there with me, and I'll see you in the next chapter! Thanks so much, y'all! 90 reviews, WOOOT!- PVB**

**PS: Music in this chapter (you all really should know these songs, but in case not) is Ride Wit Me by Nelly (there are a ton of great acoustic covers on YouTube), and What's My Age Again by Blink 182, two of my all-time favorite songs and ones I think Toph would really enjoy :)**


	13. It's Beifong, Bitch

**A/N: Heads up, this chapter is a hard T. There will be raunchiness, teen drinking, and a whole lot of cussing. Consider yourself warned ;) if I sound a little saucier than usual, it's because I was recently forced to watch the M. Night Shyamalan Avatar movie, and not even the fifth of peach schnapps my friends and I drank could dull the pain of what felt like a flaming knife soaked in the blood of previous Avatars being stabbed repeatedly into my heart. Anywhoo, onto the story…**

**Chapter Thirteen – It's Beifong, Bitch**

* * *

"Seriously, Katara, have I ever looked this good?"

"That would be a no. Soundly no."

"We haven't had new clothes in…God, must be years."

"You can thank the guilty conscience of the capital government," I said.

Sokka couldn't stop staring at his new shirt and jeans. "Bitches will be _all_ up on this."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself," Katara said with a smirk. She was wearing a new blue dress with leggings and fluffy Ugg boots. Sokka and Katara both had their driver's licenses, so the day after the fire, Grandfather had sent us to the mall in the Prius with his Platinum credit card – the kind with no limits. We swore we were going to be prudent, but the idea of limitless money was pretty hard to resist. We loaded up the entire trunk with clothes and school supplies, and I had to admire the resilience of the Hatori kids. Since Sokka had his guitar and Katara her necklace, they seemed to take everything else in stride. Living with me and my Grandfather, and getting endless love from Appa and Momo, didn't hurt either.

Suki and Haru were sitting and gossiping at our usual spot when we rolled up. Suki raised an eyebrow at Sokka's new clothes. "Damn, kid, what's with this? You're looking awfully fly."

"Well, you know, our apartment burnt down cause the Fire kids firebombed it and so we moved in with Aang and his grandfather and took his Platinum credit card to the mall and bought _everything_."

Suki and Haru just blinked.

"Well, that escalated quickly," Haru muttered.

"Either way, it's just another reason why Aang is the absolute shit," Suki said with a smile.

"I do what I can," I said.

"Katara, that dress looks gorgeous on you," Haru said.

"Oh, thanks, it's – "

"_Attention_, bitches!"

Toph had walked up, swinging her cane and grinning from ear to ear. She had switched out her usual black t-shirt for a cream one, and it looked good on her pale skin.

"Alright, so life kinda sucks right now," she said, tamping the cane into the ground. "We're fighting a war against a powerful dictatorship who resort to violent hate crimes. Aang's parents are dead, Katara's mom is dead, Suki's parents are in jail, my parents are assholes, Haru, I don't know about your parents, but for the sake of this conversation, your parents suck right now too – "

"My parents are dentists," he said.

"Shut _up_, Haru. Anyway, we're angsty teenagers with no parental support. Aang still hasn't hit his growth spurt, Sokka and Katara's house burned down so they have to live with him, and Sokka's one chance of ever getting laid got hit by a car and _died_."

"I don't see what the point of this is," Sokka said.

"The point is, life sucks, but it's about to get better," Toph said, a mischievous grin on her face. "My parents have to go back to the Earth District for business this weekend, and they've given most of the servants the weekend off. They conscripted my dipshit cousin Long Wei to watch me, but I already bought him out with enough money to get him some good hookers for the weekend."

"What are you talking about?" Katara said.

"This Friday, my house, party. We're getting schwasted."

Suki and Sokka threw their hands up and cheered. Haru looked uncomfortable, and Toph just grinned at Katara. I jumped up and whispered in Toph's ear,

"I don't think we told you, but there was an incident with Katara and alcohol…she was kinda…you know…"

"Twinkles, listen to me," she said. "This isn't some random frat party where we all get wasted and date-raped. This is a _Beifong_ party. It's just us, and whoever we decide to invite. No one's gonna get roofied, since I'm in charge of the alcohol. And if anyone besides us tries to get in, there's a ten-foot electric fence and an ex-Marine security guard with a license to kill and a messy trigger finger. Nothing's gonna happen to your girl, I promise."

"She's not my girl!" I hissed. "And how did you know?"

"Child, please. I'm _blind_ and I know." She winked at me and turned back to the group. "So, who besides us are we inviting?"

"You wanna invite the other warriors, Suki?" Katara asked.

She shook her head. "Nah, they're getting on my nerves lately. I could use a night away."

"Are you going to invite your MMA friends?" Sokka asked Toph.

For some reason, she got a pained, bitter expression. "Oh no," she said, "I'm never going to an MMA party again, and they're never setting foot in my house. Oh, no."

We waited for her to elaborate, but it apparently wasn't going to happen, so Katara spoke up.

"Well, I want to invite Zuko Agni."

Surprisingly, amidst the gasps and 'What the fucks', Suki cocked her head and said,

"Oh, yeah, he came up to me a few days ago and said he wanted to join the rebellion. Him and his girlfriend, Mai."

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Sokka said. "_Zuko_ _Agni_? Ozai's best friend?"

"He said he was disenchanted with the Fire District right now. I say we invite him. See if he really means it. If he turns, there'll be enough people there that can kick his ass."

"Alright, but Katara's gotta do it," Toph said. "I have no idea what the guy looks like, I couldn't pick him out from a crowd."

All of us burst out laughing, except for Haru, who muttered,

"That's not _funny_, guys…"

"Oh, grow some balls," Toph said with a snort. "Hashtag-Toph-is-blind. I'm telling you, it's a thing."

Haru frowned, and Katara got up with a flounce and went off to go ask Zuko. I kinda glared at her pretty ass as she walked away.

_Going to the party better be the only thing she asks him…_

* * *

"Hey, Zuko?"

Zuko turned around and started. "Oh, God! Katara!"

Seriously, could this girl get any hotter? Her bright blue eyes, accentuated by just a smidge of mascara, popped out against her dark skin. She stood in front of him with a book pressed to her chest and an expectant smile on her face.

"Uh, we probably shouldn't talk in public – "

"I know, I'll make this quick," she said under her breath. "Suki told me you're a little over all the Fire District crap, and maybe you're thinking about coming over to our side. Well, we're having a party this weekend, at Toph's house, and it'd be great if you came."

"Toph? The blind scary one?"

"Yep. You and Mai. We'd love to see you there. There's a ton of rooms, you can crash there for the night."

"Yeah," Zuko said, feeling lightheaded, "yeah, I'd love to come. Can I bring my friend Ty Lee?"

"As long as it's not your sister, and you don't tell Ozai, bring whoever you want. There'll be plenty of alcohol."

"Great," he said, "great. Okay. Gimme your number, so you can give me the address."

She scribbled her number on a piece of paper and shoved it into his hand. "Alright, this conversation never happened."

"Agreed," he said, and she flashed him a smile and disappeared in the sea of students. Then he just stared after her, and at the small piece of paper in his name.

**Katara H – 572-464-5585**

_Holy shit_, he thought, _I'm probably going to get shot for this._

* * *

My luck apparently only got better. I was coming out of the bathroom right before sixth period when I heard a voice I knew all too well –

"Seriously, I don't see what your problem is, it's just a party."

"Katara, look, Aang and Sokka are awesome, but the rest of your friends are just…I mean…they're _weird_."

It was Haru. I hid behind the lockers and listened closely.

"What do you mean, weird?"

"Weird, Katara! Frankly, I have no desire to get drunk around Suki, I think she might date-rape me. And Toph is…I just…don't really think she should be drinking. I mean, can't we just hang out, the two of us? Like a real date?"

"Okay, first of all," Katara said, her voice suddenly sharp, "you're not hot enough for Suki to rape you. Second, what do you mean, Toph shouldn't be drinking? Just cause she's blind means she can't drink? And third, we have been on plenty of real dates, I don't see what more you want from me."

"Don't you think Toph is a little…like, she worries me. She's gonna trip over something, or get herself hurt, I mean, she really should be taking better care of herself – "

"She can take care of herself better than your dumbass, that's for sure!"

_Yes_! I cheered in my head.

"Well, you know what, I think it's perfectly reasonable for me to expect more than just make-outs from my girlfriend," Haru said.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," she said with an angry laugh. "Let me make this clear to you – I am _not_ your girlfriend. You've gotta work way harder to be my boyfriend. And you have no say in whether or not I do more than makeout with you, because this is the twenty-first century and I am a goddamn independent woman."

"Calm your shit, I was just – "

"Just being an asshole," she finished. "Well, I'm gonna make things a little easier. I am not your girlfriend, I am not your anything. Cause we're done."

"Katara – "

She turned around and flipped him off as she walked down the hall. I barely stopped myself from cheering out loud as I followed her into art. When I got there, she was sitting at an easel, pulling out her paints with shaking hands.

"Hey, Kat," I said, sitting down.

She turned to her, her eyebrows still pulled low. "I think I just had my first break-up."

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry!" _This is the happiest day of my life._

"Today, kids, I want you to paint your feelings," Ms. Yangchen called. "Please use the techniques we've discussed in last class – "

"Yeah, I could use a party this weekend," Katara murmured, squeezing out bright red paint onto her palette. "I feel like making some bad life decisions."

_Oh, please, God, let me be that bad life decision._

* * *

Living with Sokka and Katara meant that I no longer had to worry about what I was going to wear, because I had two new opinions besides those of Appa and Momo. But just as I had settled on a nice pair of jeans and t-shirt for the party on Friday, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a text from Toph.

_Listen up. This is not some frat party that you can roll to in your pajamas. You are going to the house of the richest family in the Earth District. Please dress like you give a shit. Just cause I can't see what you're wearing doesn't mean I won't judge you for it._

I frowned at the message and shouted across the hall, "You guys get that text?"

After a moment, Sokka said, "Yeah…it means I have to change into something presentable…"

Katara said nothing. I assumed it was because she'd already been deciding on outfits for the past hour, judging from the blaring music (_That's what makes you beautiful!_) and randomly interspersed cuss words.

I dug back in my closet and found my classy pair of jeans, a present from a distant cousin, years ago. I pulled them on and then found my best button down, black with silver pinstripes. I rolled up the sleeves and laced up my black Converse. Something told me Toph wouldn't care about those.

I knocked on Sokka's door, heard a grunt, and came in. Sokka was standing there shirtless, rifling through his now-full closet.

"Dude, what am I supposed to wear?"

"It doesn't matter, just something nice."

"I mean, I want to look good…"

"What for? Suki?"

He didn't reply, just pulled down a new brown shirt and frowned at it. "I mean, I guess it doesn't matter really…"

My brain clicked. "It's _Toph_! You want to look good for _Toph_!"

"I mean, I kinda _can't_ look good for Toph, you know – "

I couldn't stop grinning. "Katara, did you hear? Sokka wants to get with Toph!"

"What?" She called through the wall. "Good luck with that, bro, she's probably a maneater!"

"Calm down, guys, it's nothing serious…okay, I'm wearing this." He pulled the brown shirt over his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "Hair up or down?"

"The fact that you can even wear your hair in a ponytail is ridiculous," I said, "but I say down. She can't see you, she might as well be able to feel you."

"Ugh, shut up. Katara, are you ready?"

"One more second!"

"You've been in there for an _hour_!"

"I'm a girl, that's how it works! Okay, I think I found something…"

We heard the clack of high heels, and the door slowly opened. Katara stood before us, wearing a low-cut sequined blue shirt, a short pleated gray skirt, and little black booties. She had her mother's necklace and dangling silver earrings. The good-girl-gone-bad eyeliner was back, and I couldn't get enough of it.

"Is it okay?" she asked, her voice hesitant.

"Yes, for Christ's sake, you look fine," Sokka said.

She turned to me. "Aang?"

I swallowed. "Beautiful as always, Katara."

She smiled and said, "Well, then, let's roll."

The drive up to Toph's house was kinda long – the Earth District area was far away from where we were downtown. But her address wasn't really necessary. We knew it was hers from a mile away.

"Holy shit," Sokka whispered. It wasn't a house – it was a fucking _mansion_, set on top of a hill. There was a giant, imposing fence, and at the top of a driveway that must've been a quarter of a mile long, there was a security tower.

Sokka rolled down the window and a security guard leaned out from the window. "I'll need to see some identification, Mr. and Ms. Hatori, and Mr. Nomad."

"If you know our names, why do you need to see identification?" Sokka asked, as we all fished around in our wallets for IDs.

"I need to know your addresses in case I need to come find and kill you tomorrow."

We all froze. He leveled a glare at us through the sunglasses. He was not fucking around.

We hastily handed him our IDs, and after scribbling down the addresses, he pressed a button and opened the gates. We kept driving in the dark silence, trees pressing down on us on all sides.

"Is anyone else really intimidated?" Katara asked, her voice barely about a whisper.

Sokka and I could only nod. We finally parked in a giant paved driveway, one of the huge curved ones. As we stepped out, we heard the comforting sound of some thudding bass coming from inside the house. It literally extended as far as I could tell in every direction. The doors were huge and made out of wood, with knockers in the shape of flying pigs. I knocked hesitantly.

The door opened.

"Welcome to Casa Beifong, bitches."

Sokka couldn't help himself.

"Holy shit – _Toph_!"

She grinned at us. She was completely transformed - I hardly recognized her. She wore a gorgeous, lime green dress that hugged her curves and left nothing to the imagination, and her muscled legs looked even better in chunky black heels. Her hair was lying straight as a pin down past her chest, and it really was thick. Sideswept bangs added a hint of mystery, but it was the makeup that killed it. Thick eyeliner, vibrant purple eyeshadow, eyelashes that stood out from her face – even I had to admit that she was a dime tonight.

"Oh, my God," Sokka said, as he looked her up and down. "You look – _amazing_."

"Thanks, Snoozles," she said, opening the door. "Come on in." We filed past her, and she seemed to take a while to listen to Sokka's footsteps.

"Oh, my God," Katara whispered. We had entered into the most extravagant room I'd ever seen. It was easily the side of a reception hall, with giant vaulting ceilings. Low couches covered the entire floor, interspersed with coffee tables and TVs mounted on the walls. A roaring fire was crackling on the far wall, and on one wall was a giant table filled with more bottles of liquor than I'd ever seen before, and – was that a keg?

"Toph," I said, walking towards the alcohol table, "how did you buy this?"

She smiled, pulled an ID out of her bra, and tossed it to me. I read the name and date of birth and said, "This is a fake!"

"The trick, Twinkles, is a combination of three things," she said, walking over to me. I was impressed – she did pretty well in those heels. "One: a fake ID. Two: money. Three: boobs. With these three things, you can pretty much conquer the world."

"Yeah," Katara said, "but who drove you?"

"My best friend and personal maid. She's the only one who is here right now, besides the security guard. So we're all good for the night. Go put on some music."

The doorbell rang, and Toph went off to answer it as we sifted through her iPod. There was already a playlist made – 'Bad Life Decisions (Beifong Party 2013)' I pressed the button, and the strains of Ke$ha filled the room. Figures that Toph would like her.

"What's up, bitches?" Suki said, waving. She looked pretty foxy too, in tight skinny jeans, high-heeled boots, and a little green tank top with a whole lot of gold jewelry. It was just dawning on me that every girl at this party was single. Oh, my God.

"Lookin' good, Sukes," Katara said with a smile.

"You too, Sugar Queen," Suki replied. "Are these also new threads?"

"Courtesy the guilty government."

"Ah, the sweet side of genocide," Sokka sighed.

The doorbell rang again. "Must be the fire kids," Toph muttered, getting up to answer it. We all stood around awkwardly waiting until the three of them walked in. Even then, it was a little awkward. I had never really talked with Zuko, and the only time I'd ever really talked to Mai and Ty Lee, they were trying to beat me up.

Thankfully, we had Toph for that.

"Alright, introductions," Toph said. "I don't know what any of you look like, so I'mma take a stab at this – pretty one with no boobs, Katara. Pretty one with lots of jewelry – Suki. Skinny and bald – Aang. Tall, dark and handsome – Sokka. Angsty with eyeliner – Mai. Angsty without eyeliner – Zuko. Wearing pink – Ty Lee. Blind with tits – me. We all think Ozai's a dick, so we're gonna forgive the times that we all tried to beat each other up and just get drunk, agreed?"

Wow, I thought, looking around. She pretty much nailed it.

"You look really pretty, girls!" Ty Lee chirped. Per Toph's prediction, she wore a flouncy pink dress with tights and white heels.

"Thanks," Katara said. "I'm really glad you guys came."

Mai nodded, wearing all black as per usual, and Zuko, wearing a white shirt and black tie, said, "I'm ready to forget about being Fire District for a night."

"Well, there's only one way to do that," Toph said. "Shots, everybody. Table. Now."

Shots? Now? The bass thudded as we all headed over to the liquor table. Toph frowned, running her fingers over the alcohol.

"Kat, there should be some mango Svedka. Wanna grab it?"

Katara, her face steely, picked up a big bottle of clear liquid and handed it to Toph, who had already lined up seven shotglasses. I was going to offer to help her pour it, but she had it down. She placed her finger on the rim of the cup and poured until the liquor reached her fingers. Then she handed out the shots, careful not to spill any.

"Alright, so we need to toast – "

"Wait!" Sokka said. "I think this is my sister and Aang's first shot!"

Suki chuckled, and Mai just shook her head and said, "Sophomores."

"Really? Okay, I'm about to drop some knowledge on you two," Toph said. "This isn't terrible vodka, but it's still not gonna go down that smooth. The trick is to not hold the liquid in your mouth for any period of time. Don't swish it around, don't try to enjoy the flavor. Just throw it to the back of your throat and swallow. Pay attention, Katara, coincidentally this is also how you give a good blow job."

"_Toph_!" She gasped, her face cherry red.

"Okay? So what are we toasting to?"

Surprisingly, it was Ty Lee who answered. "To Aang for Prom King."

"Amen, bitches," Suki said. We raised our shotglasses together and clicked them. Then, not knowing what I was doing, I tossed the shot into my mouth.

Holy shit! Oh, God, I almost gagged. Taking Toph's advice to heart, I swallowed it without thinking, and then immediately began coughing. The liquor burned and tingled all the way down my throat. Katara was shaking her head like a sick dog. Everyone clapped.

"First time's the worst," Toph said. "Alright, everyone get your mixed drinks, we're playing Ten Fingers."

I turned to the table and picked the vodka back up. There were a whole bunch of sodas and juices lined up – maybe if I mixed them together it wouldn't taste so bad –

"Put the vodka down, Twinkles."

"Toph," I said, turning around, "how did you – "

"You make a lot of noise," she replied. "And you're not having vodka drinks. I'm not gonna be responsible for you puking tonight. Go in the mini fridge, there should be some Smirnoff Ices."

I reached in and pulled out a silver-white drink in a bottle. Toph put the cap level to the table and cracked it open.

"This is a good drink for beginners, and it tastes like pure heaven too. Get one for Katara."

I pulled one out, Toph opened it, and we headed over to where everyone was sitting in a circle on the couches. I met Mai's eye and she gave me a rare smile.

"Okay," Toph said, "this game is pretty simple." I handed the Ice to Katara, who smiled and took it. "Everyone holds out ten fingers. You start by saying, 'Never have I ever…' and then add something. For example, 'Never have I ever given a blow job.' If you have performed said act, you lose a finger, and you have to take a drink. And you gotta clap when you put one down, because I'm fucking blind. Last one in wins."

Okay. Not that big of a deal. I haven't done a lot of things.

"Also – this is my party. So, it's gotta be sex, drugs, or rock n' roll. I don't give a shit if you've never broken your arm. The goal is quick and instant bonding. So make it good."

Everyone was smiling and leaning in, ready to learn secrets. Someone was rapping in the background. I took a drink of the Smirnoff Ice, which was probably one of the most delicious things I'd ever tasted. I met Katara's eye and she winked. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"I'll go first," Toph said. "Never have I ever…done anal."

Oh, my God! But Ty Lee clapped and put a finger down. We all turned to stare at her. She shrugged and took a sip of her drink. "He was cute, what can I say?"

"Okaaay…" Sokka said. "Never have I ever kissed someone of the same sex."

Toph, Suki and Ty Lee all clapped. Suki nudged Toph, who was taking a deep pull from a bottle of beer. "I wouldn't mind doing it again, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, don't worry, sugar, strip truth or dare is coming up."

_Best party ever._

"Never have I ever…done coke," Zuko said.

Nobody clapped. "Oh, thank God," Zuko said, putting his finger down and taking a drink. "I was really worried for a second there."

Suki laughed. "Never have I ever stolen anything, other than candy bars."

Toph, Zuko and Mai clapped.

"Jesus, Toph, stop being such a delinquent," Sokka said.

"What can I say? I had a bitter childhood," she replied with a smile.

"Never have I ever hooked up with someone who wasn't from the same social class as me," Mai said.

Finally I had something to clap my hand for. Only Mai and Zuko didn't clap.

"Need to branch out more, dude," Sokka said, jovially punching Zuko in the arm.

"Yeah, well, this is the first non-Fire District party I've ever gone to, so it's a good start right?"

Katara laughed and took a deep drink. "Alright," she sighed after she was done, "never have I ever…given a blowjob, actually."

Every other girl in the circle clapped. "Lucky bitch," Mai muttered. "They suck."

"_Ha_!" Toph laughed.

Finally it was my turn. I'd been thinking about this for a while. "Never have I ever hooked up with someone taller than me."

There was a moment as everyone thought about it, then slowly, all of the girls clapped and took a drink. "That's saying something, Twinkles, cause you're not exactly a giant," Toph remarked before drinking her beer.

The liquor in my system was making me a little bit bolder. "Well, maybe that status will change tonight," I said, not looking at Katara. She froze a little anyway.

_Yeah, girl._

The game continued for another twenty minutes, and the more we drank, the funnier it became. We cackled when it was revealed that Ty Lee actually had never given a handjob, having graduated straight to blow jobs at the ripe age of fourteen, and cheered when Mai and Toph had to put a finger down for having made out with more than one _girl_ in a night. Nobody was surprised when Ty Lee was the first one out, followed closely by Zuko, and even fewer people were surprised when I finished last. By that time I'd had three drinks, including the shot, and the whole room was feeling fuzzy and close.

"Okay," Toph said, standing up and throwing out her hands. "I think it's time for a bathroom and water break – "

"Tequila shot! Tequila shot! Tequila shot!" Zuko and Sokka started chanting. Suki, Mai and Ty Lee cheered, and Katara and I just looked at each other.

"Oh, God, no…" Toph muttered. "Do you want us all to throw up?"

"Tequila shot! Tequila shot! TEQUILA SHOT!"

"Fine, shut the fuck up! I didn't buy any, so I have to go get some from the kitchen. Wait the fuck here." She kicked off her shoes and padded to the kitchen, swerving only slightly. I walked over to Katara, who was looking even more beautiful now that she had taken her hair out of its high ponytail.

"I didn't know you drank," I said.

"I don't," she said, "but I'm in an angsty break-up mood, you know?" She flashed a grin and finished off her Ice. The way she looked with that bottle held up to her lips, bright blue eyes just a little blurry…holy fuck. The room was so _spinny_.

"Gather round, fuckers, I got salt and lime," Toph said, walking back into the room with a handful of supplies. "Mai, as I remember you have a proclivity for knives, you wanna cut the limes?"

"Dude, that vocab is way too advanced for these dumb-ass bitches," Mai said, grabbing the knife and chopping up the limes. She didn't even look buzzed.

"Secret fact – I'm a fucking genius," Toph said, filling up the shotglasses with an amber liquid. "Alright, cocksuckers, lick your right hand, right above the thumb."

If any of us thought these instructions were weird, we didn't show it. I licked my hand, and Toph came around the circle and poured a small mound of salt into my hand.

"Taking tequila shots is an art," she informed us, distributing the shotglasses. "It is responsible for 82% of all hookups in the capital area, and in my personal experience it has a 76% chance of getting pussy. Here's the technique – you lick the salt, take the shot, swallow both at the same time, and then suck the lime like it's Leonardo DiCaprio's cock. Got it?"

I felt like I was going into battle – the shotglass in my left hand, salt and lime in my right hand. I met Katara's eye and she grinned. Apparently we were doing this. I still couldn't believe I was drinking, but I was so damn happy to even have friends I was willing to do pretty much anything to keep them from thinking I was weird.

"To Katara never having given head," Suki said.

"Yeah, enjoy it while you've got it, popping your dick cherry is awful," Toph said. "On three – THREE!"

I licked the salt, threw the shot into my mouth – OH MY FUCKING GOD – and barely managed to swallow without vomiting. Then, just as Toph predicted, I sucked the lime frantically, attempting to get rid of the fucking disgusting taste in my mouth.

When I finished, the reactions were similar. Sokka was shaking his head, Katara had her tongue out and was gagging, Suki had her lips pouted, Zuko closed his eyes, and Ty Lee was silently murmuring, "Ugh, ugh, ugh." Only Toph and Mai looked unfazed.

"You motherfuckers said you wanted a tequila shot," Toph said calmly.

Why was the room so – I mean – "Guys, you're all the shit," I said.

Sokka burst out laughing and clapped my back. "Airboy is drunk!"

"Tipsy," I corrected. "That's what it is when the room is super fuzzy right?"

"The room's fuzzy? You know what that means," Toph said, a huge grin over her face.

"STRIP TRUTH OR DARE!" Suki and Ty Lee screamed, and we headed back to the circle, each of us holding a drink. This didn't seem like a bad idea at all. How could taking my clothes off in front of a group of random strangers be a bad thing?

"This is a Toph Beifong original creation," Toph said as she plopped down. "The point is to discourage picking truth. The rules are simple – you can pick truth once with no punishment. After that, every time you pick truth, you have to remove an article of clothing. Socks and shoes count as one, all jewelry counts as one. If you pick dare, you don't have to strip, but I reserve the right to make you remove your clothes as part of the dare."

"Toph, you are a little _bitch_," Suki said with a giggle.

"I'm an MMA fighter, we do this kinda shit for fun," she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Sokka's eyes followed the movement. "And since you spoke up, you get to go first. Suki, truth or dare?"

"Dare," Suki said, leaning forward with a gleam in her eyes.

"Do a pole dance on that column in the corner, to a song of my choosing."

"Deal," Suki said, getting up with a grin and heading to the column. Toph giggled and headed to the iPod, where she picked –

"_Baby, baby, baby, oooh, baby, baby, baby – "_

"You're fucking kidding me," Suki cried. "Justin Bieber? Why the _fuck_ do you have this on your iPod?"

"So bitches like you can do pole dances to it!" Toph called. "Get low, bitch!"

Suki rolled her eyes, and then suddenly rolled her hips. The music sucked, but her jeans were golden. The eyes of every man in the room, including mine, were glued to her hips.

It only got better from there. As soon as Toph picked dare, Sokka dared her to make out with Ty Lee, which Zuko and I firmly agreed with (it was awesome). Sokka had to pretend to make love to a chair, which was fucking hilarious. Katara kept picking truth, which I didn't mind, because eventually her jewelry, shoes _and_ top were off, and she was sitting there, wearing a white lace bra, drinking Smirnoff and giggling at everything. Toph apparently knew something we didn't, because she dared Zuko to give Suki a lap dance, which resulted in so much sexual tension that I could barely stand it. I finally stood up and screamed that I needed a bathroom break, my fucking bladder felt like I was going to explode, so Toph relented and I sprinted to the bathroom around the corner, which I couldn't even admire for its awesomeness because peeing felt _so damn good_, and I was worried I was going to pee all over Toph's beautiful walls, because I could barely control the stream, and when I was done I looked in the mirror and just laughed, cause it was all so fucking funny!

When I stumbled out to the main room, there was complete pandemonium. Zuko, Ty Lee and Suki were grinding together, Zuko sandwiched between the girls, Mai was sitting in the corner smoking with a glaze in her eyes, Sokka and Toph were cracking up over something, and best of all, Katara was standing on the table, holding her Smirnoff Ice high, a flush in her cheeks, and belting out Taylor Swift.

"I remember when we broke up, the first time, saying this is it, I've had enough – "

"Dude, calm down, you and Haru dated for like two weeks," Toph said with a giggle. Her body was sprawled out over the couch, clearly not giving a shit that her legs were completely wide open and Sokka was staring down at her black thong.

"We are never, ever, ever getting back together!" Katara screamed. She held out her hand for me and I jumped up on the table with her.

"FUCK Haru!" She yelled, wobbling a bit.

"FUCK him!" I agreed.

"WeEEEEEE are never ever _ever_ getting back together!" The two of us sang. She pointed at me and yelled, "You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me, but we are NEVER EVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER!"

"FUCK HARU!" I screamed. This was fucking awesome.

"Yeah, fuck him!" Katara yelled. She pointed down at Toph. "You _fucking_ know why I broke up with him?"

"Oh, this oughtta be good," Mai said.

"He said you guys were _weird_," she said emphatically, punching her bottle in the air to emphasize it. "He said you were _weird_, Toph."

"You broke up with him cause he said I was _weird_?" Toph said. "Sweetie, I hate to break it to you, but he's kinda got a point – "

"No, nonononono, _listen_," Katara said, all of her words getting slurred. "He said you couldn't take _care_ of yourself."

"He said _that_?" Toph said. "Oh, now I'm fucking pissed."

"You know, cause you're like…I mean…you're _blind_."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"And SUKI!" She said, spinning around. "He said he was scared of you, that you might date-rape him."

"Please," Suki said, "like that pussy is hot enough for me to rape."

"That's what _I_ said!" Katara screamed. I'd never seen her so animated. She was waving her hands and spilling her drink everywhere. Oh, my God, her stomach was so flat, so smooth, her waist nipped in like a goddamned Barbie doll. "So I said, if you don't like my friends, then you can go FUCK YOURSELF!"

The whole room cheered. Katara grinned and threw both her hands in the air. I'll never know how Toph knew, but she knew.

"Hey, I got an idea," she said. "Aang, truth or dare?"

Considering I was already not wearing a shirt, I said, "Dare me, homegirl."

She'd been waiting for me to ask. "I dare you to make out with a girl of your choice."

I swear, the whole room froze. Everybody already knew what I was going to say. I turned to Katara, looked into her blue eyes, and suddenly realized that even she knew. Literally, _everybody_ knew.

"Katara…?" I asked.

She flushed bright red and the whole room erupted in screams, even Sokka. "About goddamn time!" Suki yelled.

Katara looked me in the eyes and I couldn't read her expression. So I said, "Not here."

There were synchronized 'awwwws', from the room, but I grabbed Katara's hand and dragged her off. The house was dark and I was drunk, but I landed in a small dark room that looked like an office and closed the door. I flicked on the lights and she was there, beautiful cheeks, dark skin, those lips like plump little cherries –

Even drunk, I couldn't do it. Not like this.

"Katara, I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to drag you into this. We can just say we made out, it's okay, I won't tell, I – "

She grabbed my cheeks and kissed me.

HOLY FUCKING GOD SHIT OH MY GOD!

It was literally better than I'd ever imagined. Her tongue was perfect, exploring every little crevice, my whole body felt like butter, oh my God, it was the happiest moment of my life, I held her beautiful hips and pulled her close and felt like a real goddamn man, I put one hand in her soft hair, pressed her close, her heart beat next to mine, I swear, I was so happy I could've died –

Finally she pulled away. We looked into each other's eyes for a solid thirty seconds. I really didn't mind if I got shot that night, because I had made out with the girl of my dreams, and it was her choice.

But then she sprinted out of the room and back into the main room. When I got there, she was pouring herself a giant glass of wine, her face bright red, completely ignoring the cat calls that were going on throughout the room. She met my eyes and then blushed and looked back at her wine. What the hell? Did she regret it? Oh my God, what was going on?

* * *

"This is adorable," Suki said to Zuko.

"How long has this been going on?" Zuko asked, looking at blushing Aang and Katara.

"Since the second I met Aang. Literally, you just look at the way he watches her. He fucking _worships_ her."

Zuko looked Suki over. She flashed him a quick grin and filled up her drink as 'Party and Bullshit' blasted in the background. While she did so, he snuck a glance at Mai. She had a cigarette dangling out of her mouth, was gossiping with Ty Lee and Toph, and looked happier than he'd seen her. So in his tequila-vodka haze, he turned back to Suki.

"So, you're a senior?"

"Yessir."

"What are you doing next year?"

"Going to Shaolin State. Got a martial arts scholarship." She took a huge swig and looked up at Zuko through her eyeliner. "What are you doing next year? Continuing to be an asshole?"

"I'm not an asshole – "

"Your dad's General Ezain."

"How did you know?"

"The usual. My parents are in jail because of your dad. Haven't seen them in ten years."

She had the fiercest brown eyes he'd ever seen. He couldn't see how Mai was staring at the two of them. He said, "I'm sorry. I wish I could take it back."

Suki looked him up and down and said, "Well, that's about the most honest thing anyone's ever said to me about it. Let's go play flip cup with Mai and Ty Lee until someone ends up naked."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

The flip cup match between Suki and Zuko on one end and Mai and Ty Lee on the other was about as good as anyone could have predicted. Sokka stood at the end of the table and refereed, which basically meant cheering whenever lightweight Ty Lee took another article of clothing off for no reason. After a while, Mai went out to smoke and Suki and Zuko kept playing, and Sokka looked around the room. Aang and Katara were somehow managing to completely avoid each other at the same time as keeping almost constant eye contact on each other. He shook his head. Well, better Aang than Haru. It was impossible not to notice. Most people went crazy when they saw his sister. If it had to someone, he'd prefer it be Aang.

Then he noticed Toph standing against the wall by the liquor table, one foot pressed up against the wall, casually taking pulls from a Guinness in her hand, thick bangs obstructing everything but her silver nose ring. It was like magnetism. Sokka walked towards her. He didn't have a choice.

"Having fun, girl?"

Toph laughed. "You know it, Snoozles."

He noticed that her two hearing aids were placed on the table. "You took out your hearing aids."

"Yeah, it gets kinda loud with the music. Plus, I don't need them here. I know this house really well."

"Have your parents ever rearranged it?"

"Yeah, a few years ago. I pitched a fit like you've never _seen_. Had to relearn my way around the whole goddamn house. Thank God they've never rearranged my room."

"I'd love to see it," he said without thinking.

"That makes two of us." She cocked a smile. "Follow me."

He left his drink on the table and followed her up a giant staircase, the kind that he had only seen in Titanic. They travelled down a dark hallway, filled with black and white pictures, before finally arriving at a door painted white.

"Check it out," she said, opening the door. She didn't turn on the light, and Sokka did it without asking, figuring she didn't need it. The first thing that surprised him was the color. He had imagined that a blind girl wouldn't need a whole lot of color, but the whole room was done in shades of cream and green. There was a gorgeous four-poster bed with thick, fluffy pillows and comforter, a slightly messy desk, a giant walk-in closet that was maybe a third filled, and a door that he assumed led to a bathroom. The most shocking things were an entire bookcase of CDs, each with a Braille label, and the walls. Instead of posters, there were textures covering the wall – croqueted panels, woven tapestries, fuzzy animal pelts, even a square of sandpaper by the bed. The designs on these didn't match the room at all, but he figured it didn't matter.

"You like it?"

"It's awesome," he replied. "What's the deal with all the…stuff on the walls?"

"I like feeling things," she said. She reached up and felt a panel of embroidered silk to the right of her bed. "Kinda keeps me grounded. You lose one sense, you start using the others more than you realize. Touch is one of the main ways I interact with my world. So having this stuff around the room…I mean, it's like having posters of your favorite bands. They're my favorite…feels, I guess?"

"Sandpaper?" He said, sitting down beside her on the bed.

She laughed, that deep belly laugh that he loved so much. "Come on, Socks, you know what I'm talking about. The world isn't always gorgeous. It doesn't always feel like silk and rabbit fur. Sometimes it feels like sandpaper. That's the way it works. I need to remind myself of that sometimes."

"You don't…I mean, being blind doesn't remind you of that all the time? That life is rough?"

"Nah," she said with a smile. "I'm telling you, dude, most of the time it's not that bad. I got my cane, I got my hearing aids, I got you guys. I can still kick ass. I'm fine. It's nothing like you. My parents are assholes, but I've still got them."

"Honestly, I've got Katara. She's like my mom."

They were inching closer together. "And you don't mind this…her and Aang business?"

"Seriously, it's been meaning to happen since the day they met. He's great. I don't care."

His hands were so close to her hips now. He stared at her rich ivory skin and thought that this girl was a milkshake with a shot of vodka – rich and creamy with a kick.

Some stupid rap song came on from downstairs – _I like the way you grind with that booty on me, shawty you a dime why you looking lonely, go buy another round and it's all on me – _

"God, I hate these stupid songs," Toph muttered, reaching her hand out to touch Sokka's leg.

"Really?" _Cause this song is basically my thoughts right now._

_Put it down on me, put it down on me, show me how it's gonna be, girl all I really want is you down on me – _

He couldn't stop it. He grabbed her under the jaw and pulled her in for a kiss.

Oh, shit!

Toph did not mess around. There was no casual easing-in period. A few seconds after they'd started and she was on his lap, grinding her beautiful hips right into his completely erect dick, her hands buried in his hair, pressing her body into his like her life depended on it. He roved his hands around her body and in his drunken haze put them right on her boobs, feeling them up, oh _God_ those were big, holy shit he could get lost in those tits –

Still kissing him, she picked up his hand and led it to her zipper, and, not protesting, Sokka unzipped her dress, letting it fall to the floor. Her skin was soft and smooth, his fingers travelled around her bra and under the straps. His fingers slowly roved up to her face and played with her nose ring.

"I've never hooked up with a girl with a nose ring," he said.

"It's an experience," she said with a smirk. "Ever been with a girl with a tattoo?"

"Honestly, no," Sokka said. He grabbed her hips and pulled her close and looked over onto her back. Her tattoo, smack dab in the middle of her back, was thick and black. It looked like some sort of plateau, with the ends curved under into curlicues. It was feminine and tough at the same time.

"It's the traditional symbol of the Earth District," she said. "Symbolizes stability."

"I hate to be rude, but how do you know…?"

She laughed. "I know what the sign looks like, dude. It's all over the house. I saw it when I was a kid. And my best friend went with me when I got it, so I trust her. It doesn't matter that I can't see it. I know it's there, and that's what matters to me. That people who see it when I fight know who I fight for, what I fight for. I fight for control over my own life, when the universe tried to take that control away from me."

The only thing he could say is, "Honestly, I have never met another human being like you, and I may or may not be in love with you."

She got a grin on that fierce little mouth. Sokka found himself getting pushed into the bed, and then she was grinding up on him again, his hand planted firmly on her butt, fingering the skin beneath her black thong. Her little fingers, so sure, slowly played with his zipper.

"I may or may not be in love with you, Sokka Hatori…one way to find out…"

* * *

Katara having vanished to the bathroom, I slowly made my way to the liquor table. I turned down the volume on the iPod – it was starting to hurt my pounding head. I pulled out a Solo cup, poured some vodka in the bottom, and then filled the rest of the cup with fruit punch. After what had just happened…and I had no idea what had just happened…getting drunker seemed to be the only answer.

"I'm cutting you off after that one."

I turned around, expecting to see Toph, but instead I saw Mai. She smiled at me and walked up to pour herself another glass of red wine. "You've been having a lot. Plus that vodka will hit you hard."

"Why are you…I mean…Mai, I thought you hated me."

"I don't hate anybody," she replied. "I'm either indifferent, slightly predisposed towards, or slightly predisposed against. I don't exactly have a large emotional spectrum. And as for why I'm doing this…"

Her eyes shifted towards Ty Lee, who was passed out in her underwear on the couch, her long braid flopping over her neck. "Zhao tried to rape her at the Homecoming afterparty," she said under her breath. "And even worse, Azula and Ozai were in favor of it. All of us, even Zuko and Zhao, have been going to school together since we were kids. She never used to be like this. But lately, it seems like we're the only ones who aren't willing to ruin people's lives for the pursuit of Fire District glory."

I nodded and took a sip of my drink. Ty Lee looked so peaceful on the couch, her little stocking feet hanging over the arms of the couch.

"She's been under a lot of stress recently," Mai said. Her voice had lost its razor-sharp edge. "There's a lot expected of her. She's the second youngest of six sisters, and they all got scholarships to really good colleges. But Ty's not exactly the sharpest crayon in the box, so she's trying for a cheer scholarship, which are really hard to come by. Couple that with the expectation that girls like her shouldn't really even go to college, because her parents just expect her to marry young, and Zhao is pretty much the intended betrothed. Obviously she doesn't want that, which makes Azula hate her too, and it's just…we've been together so long it's like she's my little sister. She's a fucking idiot and she seriously needs to act like a grown-up sometimes, but if anybody hurt her, even Azula, I wouldn't hesitate to kill them."

I looked into her black eyes and said, "I would never mean to hurt her. Or you, for that matter."

"I know, kid. That's why I'm here. It's nice to be with people who don't just see you as a means to an end." She looked around the room, and very conspicuous absences were noted by both of us. Namely, Ty Lee was the only one there. No sign of Katara, Zuko, Suki, Toph or Sokka.

"Where's Zuko?" I said, not thinking about what I was saying.

Mai took a deep drink of her wine and said, "He went with Suki."

"Oh," I said. I couldn't read anything from the way she said it. She gripped her cup and kept her black eyes straight ahead. Did she…I mean…was she hoping –

"I think I'll just go smoke," she finally said. At that moment, Katara emerged from the bathroom, very unsteady on her feet, and toppled into the first couch she could find.

"Go," Mai said. I turned to her in surprise. "You got about five minutes before she passes the fuck out. We all know what happened. _Go_."

She pushed my back and I stumbled forward, not too steady myself, to sit on the couch with Katara. Without a moment's hesitation, Katara snuggled right up to me and put her head in my lap.

"Aang…?" She murmured.

"It's me, sweetie."

"Why do you do that?" She whispered, a silly smile on her lips. "Call me sweetie and baby and stuff? Nobody does that. Haru didn't do that."

"Cause…cause…" I reached up and started stroking her hair. "I really care about you," I finished, somewhat lamely. _Ugh. Pussy._

"I care about you too," she said. "I love you so much. You're the best friend I've ever had."

I swear my heart sank right into my feet. There it was. The death certificate. The Blue Screen of Death for every guy ever. The ultimate cockblock. The prediction that every time I jacked off for the next several months, it would be ruined by bitterness and blue balls.

I was officially Friendzoned.

And the worst part was, I didn't even care. I stroked her hair and figured, at least she'd kissed me tonight. She might not remember it and neither of us knew what it meant, but at least –

"_Aaaaaaang_," she whined, grabbing the front of my shirt, "come _here_."

With sloppy movements, she pulled me down onto the couch with her. With no idea what she wanted from me, I stretched out my body beside her. She immediately cuddled up beside me, laying her head on my chest, her hand resting on my skin. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and continued playing with her long, soft hair. Her body was in the shape of a question mark, pressed right up against me.

"I'm so _sleeeeepy_," she whispered.

"Go to sleep, baby," I said. The room was starting to go dark for me, now that I was lying down.

"Will you be here when I wake up? I hate waking up alone."

"I'll always be here, honey," I replied, the most honest answer to a question I'd ever been asked. "I'll always be here for you."

She smiled, her eyelids pressed shut, and did the cutest thing I'd ever seen, and leaned forward just a tad and kissed the skin of my chest. Then she snuggled up some more, and only a few seconds later her breathing evened out as she fell asleep.

I rubbed my hand up and down her bare back and fell into the happiest sleep I'd had in a long time.

* * *

"Did that just happen?"

Toph wasn't entirely sure. The darkness felt different somehow; warm, and alive. She shifted her body under the sheets and attempted to stretch. _Ouch_.

"I think so," she answered.

Sokka turned over beside her. "Everything okay, Toph?"

"Yeah. Yeah." She shifted over and hissed in pain. _Jesus Christ_. Hair fell in her face as she slowly raised herself on her arms. Her palm mashed into a small sticky puddle – oh, _Christ_ –

"Sokka, is this - ?"

"What – oh, _shit_. Yeah, it is. I didn't realize – "

"Don't sweat it," she said. She leaned forward and awkwardly placed a kiss somewhere on his face – it felt like his forehead. "I'll get it."

"Toph, let me – "

"Don't sweat it," she repeated, clambering out of bed. "I know where the paper towels are. Plus I really should go pee. Prevents UTIs."

"Oh. Okay."

The room was cold after the heat and warmth of what transpired under the blankets. She made it to the bathroom, washed the blood off her hands, and plopped down on the toilet. Her shaking hands pressed against her useless eyes, all of her muscles tight and pained. Finally, she managed to pee – it didn't quite feel solid. She shivered. Even though she was on birth control, she was now considering that a condom might have been a good idea. This was fucking _weird_.

Finally she finished, did her business, and then grabbed the roll of paper towels and headed back into the room. Sokka was waiting for her, sitting up expectantly in bed, his breathing quick and even. She flashed a smile and felt around until her fingers hit the blood, which she mopped up with quick and sure strokes.

"I'll wash them tomorrow, I'm sorry, I just don't really feel like doing much else right now."

"Hun, it's okay. Will you please hurry up so we can cuddle?"

"Cuddle?" She couldn't stop herself. She stood up and cocked her head at him. God, she wished she could see what he looked like right now.

"Of course, silly. Popping your cherry entitles me to at least twenty minutes of spooning."

"Uh, you were a virgin too."

"More reasons to cuddle!"

A grin burst onto her face. After finishing the cleanup and throwing away the paper towels, she climbed back in bed and snuggled under the covers. Sokka immediately scooted over and pressed his body against hers, hips pressed together, his hands stretching around to hold her, right over her heart. He kissed the soft skin beneath her ear.

Toph was having a hard time keeping it together. Her heart was pounding up, up, up. This was – amazing. Life-changing. Better than she'd ever imagined in her wildest dreams. His big strong arms, wrapped around her, holding her close – she didn't have to be drunk to know that it didn't work out like this for most girls. Especially not blind, fucked-up tomboys.

"Aren't you tired?" He whispered.

"I didn't do as much work as you did."

"You were there," he said. "You looked at me with those pretty eyes. That was enough."

"Sokka…"

"What?"

"You don't…I mean, you don't have to lie. About my eyes. It's okay, I'm not expecting that."

"What was I lying about?" He really did sound confused.

"About…them being pretty."

"_Toph_…" he kissed her again. "Your eyes are gorgeous. I don't give a shit if they don't work. I didn't do this out of pity. I think you're the most beautiful girl in the damn city."

Her face was hot. She didn't know what to say. What did you say to a man this perfect? She kissed his hands and pressed herself into him.

He yawned and snuggled his face in her hair. For a while they lay there, breathing evening out, Toph slowing her heart down until it synched with his, two hearts literally beating as one. She felt the push and pull of air from his lungs and had never felt so calm in her life.

"Love ya, Toph," he murmured in a half-whisper. She froze. He couldn't have…? How did you respond to that?

"Sokka?" She whispered back. But he was already passed out, his arms weighing heavy on her body, the breath out of his nose making her hair flutter. She blinked into the darkness and tried to go to sleep.

The minutes passed. His breath was slow and deep, his chest expanding against her bare skin. His breath smelled a little like beer, but she supposed hers did too, so she couldn't blame him. Her toes were cold, so she shoved them against his thigh.

But this…this couldn't be right. This couldn't happen. This had to be some fucked up dream. Things this perfect _weren't_ supposed to happen.

Toph gave up on sleeping and slowly began shifting her body. Sokka stayed dead asleep. Gently, she picked up his arm and moved it off of her. Without missing a beat, he rolled over onto his back and continued sleeping. She climbed up out of bed, pulled the blankets around him, and then started feeling her way around the room. A discarded t-shirt – it felt like hers, she wasn't quite sure – and sweatpants were lying on the floor. She pulled them on, ran a hand through her hair and eased her way out of the room.

The house was quiet. Someone had turned the music off. She tiptoed her way into the living room and felt around the sticky alcohol table until she found her hearing aids. When she put them in, she heard the sounds of several people snoring. She moved to the first couch and put out her fingers, ever so gently. They came up on glossy, thick hair, then a fluffy blanket. Mai.

The next couch had naked skin and a tight plait. Ty Lee.

Finally, at the couch by the bathroom, Toph found what she'd been looking for – a bald head. She travelled her fingers down a little more and came upon the soft, curly hair of Katara. Finally she smiled. Finally. That left Zuko and Suki, who were probably doing the same thing she and Sokka had just done. _Called it._

Something felt off, deep within her. Like her screws had been turned the wrong way, sending her slightly off kilter. Her hair tickled down her neck. It was rarely down like this, and the curl was coming back into it. He'd said something, during. Something about how gorgeous her hair was. Toph tried to remember it from what she was five, that last time she'd seen herself. Then, it just stuck out in all directions, and you could hardly tell it was black from all the dirt in it. The image was gray, fuzzy, like a mirage.

Except for her eyes. She remembered what those looked like. Pretty green, covered by a sour milk spill. _Ugh_.

She walked over to the alcohol table and grabbed the first bottle she could find. Then she walked over to the foot of the stairs and plopped down, feet pointing inward, shoulders slumped. She pushed hair out of her face and took a deep pull. Ahh, vodka. Excellent.

Because it wasn't a real party until Toph sabotaged herself.

She leaned her head against the wall and drank herself to oblivion.

* * *

**Ooooh, snap. Well, I'm pretty much as surprised as you are about how this chapter turned out. I've been really anal about planning for this story, which is totally not my usual style. So I decided to have a taste of my own medicine, and after work a few days ago I bought the cheapest Moscato I could find, played the Avatar drinking game and finished the bottle in thirty minutes, and then wrote the second half of this chapter very tipsy. Felt more authentic to me, cause I didn't force anything to happen. I hope you guys didn't mind how long it is, but I was just having waaay too much fun :)**

**Songs used in this chapter: What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together by T. Swift, Party and Bullshit by Biggie, and Down on Me by Jeremih. I have no idea what's happening next chapter, but I assume lots of hangovers :) Love you all so much! Please review! - PVB**


	14. Sweat it Out

**Chapter Fourteen – Sweat it Out**

* * *

Darkness. Mmm. Darkness. Sweet darkness.

Something moving. Someone moving.

I opened my eyes, only to immediately snap them shut again. Oh, God. Light. Who the _fuck_ turned on the lights?

I fell back asleep. So warm. So soft. So dark. Mmm.

A while later, I don't know how long, I opened my eyes again. My whole head felt tight, like someone had inflamed my brain while simultaneously robbing it of the ability to think. And God, this headache. Ugh.

I finally realized that there was a vast quantity of curly brown hair falling all over me.

What…?

Oh, shit! I almost jumped up, before realizing at the last second that _Katara_ was lying on my chest, completely knocked out, her hand pressed right against my heart. _She wasn't wearing a shirt_: just a lacy white bra. Her little gray skirt was hiked up on her hips, showing me just a hint of a pair of blue panties. I wasn't wearing a shirt either, just my jeans, with only one shoe on. There was a bottle of wine on the floor beside me.

What happened? Where was I?

I looked around and saw an elaborately furnished living room, with lots of art and TVs on the wall, and a table filled with alcohol bottles. It all came back in a rush – vodka shot, tequila shot, Smirnoff Ice, strip truth or dare, Taylor Swift, _making out with Katara_…

Oh, right. Toph's party. That's where I was.

But how did Katara end up on my chest? And why were neither of us wearing a shirt? I froze. Oh, God, did we…I mean…I didn't _sleep_ with her, did I?

No. No way. I couldn't have. I would've remembered _that_.

Much as I was loving Katara snoozing like a baby bear on my chest (she had the cutest little snores), now that I was awake my legs were getting restless, and I had to get up and go pee at least. I moved my hand around until I found a nice, big pillow on the ground. Had to do it quickly. I gently held Katara's head up as I slid out and placed the pillow under her. She gripped it, made a soft cooing sound, and fell right back asleep.

But standing up was _not good_. The room was suddenly moving, spinning around me. I grabbed the back of the couch for support and pressed a hand to my head. _Jesus Christ_.

Painstakingly, I made my slow way to the bathroom. The whole room was in a state of disarray. A long table was littered with empty beer cans and Solo cups. There were articles of clothing just lying around randomly. I made it into the cool dark bathroom and took the most triumphant pee of my life. The stream must've lasted for twenty seconds. Seriously, how much did I drink last night?

Once I got out, it became apparent that I needed water immediately or I would actually die, so I made the equally slow journey to the kitchen. On the way I saw the only other person in the room – Ty Lee, even more naked than Katara, wearing just a bra, panties and pair of stockings, sprawled out on the couch, hugging a pillow to her chest. It looked like she'd been there for a while.

I lurched into the kitchen and suddenly felt like I was going to puke. Oh, God – I grabbed the edge of the sink and leaned over, breathing heavily –

Suddenly someone's hand was rubbing my back. "Don't try to stop it. Let it out."

My stomach was flipping, over and over again. I kept trying to bite it back –

"You'll feel better once you get it out."

Finally I leaned over and totally blew my cookies. That shit was like a rainbow – red, yellow, green. But afterwards, I did feel a lot better. I turned the water on and gurgled and spat while the chunks fell down the sink. Then I turned to see who it was.

Mai, smiling at me. Her hair and clothes looked remarkably good for having drank like a sailor the night before. She was standing there with two mugs of something hot and steamy.

"Hair of the dog?" she asked.

"Will it make me feel better?"

"Maybe. It's what I do."

I accepted the mug and took a deep drink. It was black coffee, mixed with something –

"Kahlua," Mai said, at my pained expression. This shit tasted rough. "Just enough to soothe the nerves."

I took another big drink, and while it did taste like sandpaper mixed with tar, it helped to clear my mind a bit. I finished the coffee and the two of us then indulged in a whole lot of water and ibuprofen, standing in comfortable silence in the sunlit kitchen. This silent Gothic girl was starting to grow on me. Those black eyes could hide a thousand secrets. I was really glad she was on our side.

Finally I looked at the clock. "It's eleven already?"

"Yep," Mai said. "We'd probably better get people up. We can help Toph clean up a bit before we go."

I nodded and headed into the living room. First things first – I found my shirt. There were weird stains all over it that I had no recollection of. With a shrug, I walked over and stood over sleeping Katara, who looked so vulnerable.

And suddenly I was flooded with fear. What had really happened last night? What were we now? Should I…I mean, was she my girlfriend? Was this a one-night stand? Was I really Friendzoned, as I so desperately feared? Staring down at her, the way wisps of her hair fell over her cheek, the slight push and pull of her chest as she breathed, the way she slept with her fingers tightly clasped on the pillow…I loved her. And I'd kissed her last night. So why did it feel so complicated, so wrong?

I couldn't do it. Not yet.

I looked around to see if I could wake up Ty Lee first, but Mai had already gotten there. Which left the two couples of the night. Much as I didn't want to see anyone naked, I was desperately curious as to what had actually happened in the upstairs bedrooms, so I headed to the stairs.

But the morning held even more surprises. Toph was completely passed out on the bottom step, wearing her own clothes. I couldn't see her face from her mane of hair that had frizzed out over night, but there was an empty bottle of vodka beside her, and she was curled up into a ridiculously tight ball, tighter even than Katara, like she was protecting herself from something. Her wrists were pulled in tight to her chest. My hangover wasn't helping me understand the situation. Why wasn't she with Sokka? Why was she wearing her own clothes? Did they hook up?

I bent down and gently rubbed her shoulder. "Toph?"

It took a few tries, but she started blinking. I pushed her hair out of her face and saw her eyes, gummed together with sleep, slightly red, her nose ring off kilter, sticking straight up.

"That you, Aang?" She murmured.

"Sure is. We wanted to wake everyone up so we can start cleaning."

She snorted and slowly pushed herself onto her arms. "No need to suck up, Twinkles, I'm already voting for you for Prom King."

Her humor felt so good, in the wake of all this confusion. "I don't know, I probably drank thirty bucks worth of liquor last night, I should at least clean up."

"My hero. Oh, _fuuuuuuck_…"

She leaned her head against the wall and groaned, a hand pressed to her forehead.

"You didn't seem that drunk when I went to sleep," I said, confused as to why she was so fucked up.

"The night was full of surprises."

She was hauling herself to her feet, looking like a complete wreck. I couldn't tell at all what was going on with her. "So…how was your night…?" I finally asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"As good as can be expected," she replied, which didn't tell me shit. I tried to stare at her, forgetting for a second that she couldn't tell, and she flashed me a smile and said, "I'mma go wake up the lovers. Go get Katara."

"How did you – "

"I know everything," she said, heading up the stairs. I groaned a little and walked back over to Katara.

"Katara? Hun?"

She shoved her face in the pillow and grumbled something.

"Sweetie, it's almost noon, we gotta clean up."

"Noooooo…"

I sighed and sat down on the floor. "Come on, baby. We gotta roll."

She pushed her face out towards me, eyes closed, hair in her face, her lips puckered in duck face. I wished I had a camera to capture it. "Aang?"

"Yep."

"Aang…Aang…" Suddenly her eyes opened and she took in my face. Her mouth opened slightly. "_Aang_!"

I knew what was going on inside her mind – she was remembering the kiss. She sat up, threw back her hair, and suddenly realized she wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Aang! Jesus Christ! Where is my shirt?"

_You didn't care last time you weren't wearing a shirt_, I thought, but nonetheless I dug around until I found her shirt, which she pulled on, blushing furiously.

"What did we…I mean…we didn't – "

"Oh, Jesus, no, we passed out together on the couch. Nothing more."

"Oh, thank God."

Thank _God_? My stomach sank. Was I that regrettable of a hookup? Would it have been so bad if we slept together? Oh, God –

"Do you…I mean…" What the fuck was going on? This was unchartered territory. Did we pretend it didn't happen? Did we accept it and move on? Did we take the next step? Was it my choice? _What was I supposed to say_?

If it was any consolation, she looked more embarrassed than I'd ever seen, frantically straightening out her hair, not meeting my eye. "Let's start cleaning up, okay?"

I could only nod, ignoring the prickling tears in my eyes. What the hell was going to happen?

* * *

With fearful steps, Toph made it up to her bedroom and pried open the door. She heard Sokka shift from the bed and a muffled groan.

She walked over quietly and sat down on the bed. "Hey, Sokka?"

There was a grunt.

"Time to wake up, dude."

"Toph…?" he rolled over.

"Do you want me to get one of the chauffeurs to drive you home?"

"No, no, it's okay…where were you, last night? I woke up in the middle of the night to go pee and you weren't there."

She heard the pleading in his voice, but with no idea what to do, she just said, "Yeah…okay, listen…I'm not embarrassed or anything, but…you know how emotional girls get, their first time and everything…would you mind keeping this between us? Until I'm ready to tell people?"

"Uh…I guess, yeah. Sure."

"Thanks, Socks," she said with a smile. "I'll go wake up the others and put some coffee on downstairs, okay?"

"Wait, Toph – "

She almost sprinted out of the room and closed the door.

_Goddamn it_! She barely stopped herself from slamming her fist into the wall. Instead, she pressed her back against the wall and cracked her skull as softly as she could. What the fuck? Why couldn't she talk to him? She'd seen his _dick_, for Chrissakes. _Do you want this guy to be your boyfriend or not?_

"I don't know," she whispered. "I don't know."

_Of course you do, you dumb bitch._

She closed her eyes and mashed the heels of her hands into her eyes. Life had never been simple for her. The world wasn't meant for blind people. But she had never felt more confused than she did at this moment.

Then she heard the sounds of movement coming from one of the numerous guest bedrooms on the floor, and it brought her back to reality. Right. Party. Need to clean up. Need to wake people up to clean.

_Come on, girl. Get back to Toph mode. Tonight, we'll deal with this. But for now…fake it till you make it._

She took a deep breath, headed over to the bedroom, and threw the door open.

"Rise and shine, dickwads! I'm doing both of you a favor by being blind and having no idea whether you're naked or not. I'm just here to tell you that we're all gonna clean up and roll out. So finish sucking dick and get your asses out of bed."

"Thanks, Toph," Suki giggled, as Zuko harrumphed from the corner.

"Always a pleasure," she said, heading back down the hall.

_It's way more fun to observe your problems than deal with my own._

* * *

Cleanup wasn't as bad as I expected. Most of us started to work right away (Ty Lee still not wearing any clothes, looking just as happy without them). Suki and Zuko finally came down the stairs, weird little grins on their faces, and we all started catcalling and whooping. Mai's smile was slightly strained as she picked up stray Solo cups. We wiped down the sticky surfaces and threw out the empty liquor bottles (Toph saved the full ones under her bed), but eventually she kicked us out, protesting that we were all too hungover to really do much good and that she had one of her friends coming over later to help her. I wanted to argue, but my head was killing me, and I wanted to get into bed where I didn't have to avoid meeting Katara's eye, so I finally allowed her to shoo me out of the house. She gave us all hugs and smiled as we left, and though all of us were watching closely to see what she said to Sokka, she gave him a hug and a smile like the rest of us. Sokka reciprocated. I looked at Katara, both of us wondering what the hell had happened last night. The drive home was completely silent. I sat in the front seat with Sokka, every once in a while sneaking glances at Katara, who stared out the window with big bags under her eyes.

Once we arrived home, we each immediately fell into our respective beds. I stripped down to just boxers, for some reason sweating profusely, and stayed in this weird half-state between dreaming and sleeping. Grandfather did the rounds very hour with more water and ibuprofen when necessary. He had a strange, smug smile on his face. He hadn't protested very much when we went out last night and didn't give us a spiel about the dangers of alcohol. It had seemed weird then, but now I understand why. He knew no speech of his would accomplish the point as well as a truly nasty hangover. Sneaky bastard.

Appa switched between Sokka and I, snuggling up on the bed with his warm, fluffy body, but I hadn't seen Momo all day. He'd really become attached to Katara, and today he seemed to be taking my direction to stay with her the last time she was here drunk very seriously. At one point during the day – I had no idea the time – I was laying my head on Appa when the door opened.

"Grandfather?" I muttered.

Someone entered the room. "No, Aang, it's me."

"Katara?" I whispered. She walked over and sat down beside me. Her hair was thrown in a truly horrendous bun and she looked like she'd been punched in the face. But she smiled at me, and suddenly she was beautiful again.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Like shit," I replied. "You?"

"A little better. Might start homework soon."

"Only you," I muttered.

She smiled again. "Aang, I'm gonna leave soon so you can get some sleep, but I just…I wanted to say…"

I held my breath. After a moment of staring at me, she suddenly bent over and kissed me on the lips.

"I had a great time last night," she said in a rush. Then, blush spreading all across her cheeks, she got up, left, and closed the door behind her.

I was too hungover to comprehend what had just happened. But I still smiled and buried myself deeper in my dog's fur.

"Girls, Appa…can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em…"

Appa barked in agreement.

* * *

***Sunday***

"Toph…won't you come back for dessert?"

Toph gritted her teeth and yelled, "I'm full, Mom."

"But we're having tea…won't you spend some time with us? We haven't seen you very often lately."

Here comes the guilt trip. She'd gone to dinner with them; wasn't that enough? Toph took a deep breath and yelled, "I'm sorry, Mom, I'm not really feeling that well."

"Alright, dear," her mother sighed. "Just as long as you don't go on that infernal contraption."

Toph smirked as she pulled her tank top over her sports bra. "Wouldn't dream of it," she yelled back.

Her room was silent as she dressed, settling her favorite pair of Soffee shorts over her hips. Then she felt around in her closet for her sneakers and laced them up over her socked feet. It was late enough that there shouldn't have been many servants around. She took the hair tie from her wrist and bound up all of her wild hair in a bun. _Jesus, seriously need a haircut_. Oh, but Sokka liked her hair…

Goddamn it.

She tiptoed out of her room and down the silent hallways to the basement workout room. One of the benefits of being blind was that she didn't _need_ light to see, so she didn't have to turn on the light to betray her presence. She inched slowly around the room, fingers out in front of her, until she found the 'infernal contraption' – the treadmill.

_Hey there, buddy. Ready for some masochism?_

She plugged her iPod into the speakers set up in front of the treadmill, and moved to the playlists. Her visually-impaired iPod said in a robotic female voice –

"Playlists: Bacardi Wednesday; Calculus Sucks Monkey Balls; Fuck Everything - "

There we go. She pressed the button and immediately the sounds of Sum 41 filled the room, thick heavy guitar riffs that seemed to settle right into her soul.

_Everybody's got their problems, everybody says the same thing to you, it's just a matter of how you solve them, and knowing how to change the things you've been through – _

Toph stepped slowly onto the stationary treadmill, her fingers reaching out for the buttons, feeling, as she always did when she used this machine, like she was heading into battle.

_I feel I've come to realize, how fast life can be compromised, step back to see what's going on, I can't believe this happened to you – _

She pressed the button for walk and the track moved beneath her feet. Keeping her hands planted on the side supports, she started walking, loving the feeling of her tight muscles getting stretched out.

_Part of me, won't agree, cause I don't know if it's for sure, suddenly, suddenly, I don't feel so insecure – _

Normally she would stay at walk for a while, but the throbbing in her vagina was pushing her to do things she didn't normally do. So she pushed the buttons, listening for just the right number of beeps that would tell her she'd hit 5.5 MPH. The treadmill caught up to her, and she ran, taking her hands off of the supports, her feet pounding the floor, heart rate spiking. Oh, God, this felt so good.

The treadmill was, like so many things in Toph's life, something that someone had once told her she could never do, which only served to make her more determined to do it. She had always loved being active, and she did every sport a blind girl could do, but sometimes she just wanted to run. Her parents expressly forbid her from running outside, and she had to admit they had a point. She could figure out what was going on in close proximity thanks to her hearing aids, but she was completely vulnerable to someone coming up from behind. And the blind only daughter of a rich family was a prime target for kidnapping.

So, years ago, she'd snuck down to the rarely used gym and figured out how to work the treadmill. It was a painful process, filled with lots of falling off, scraping her knees and elbows and ankles, cussing and screaming. Eventually, she'd learned that the trick was to be as present as she could – focus on keeping pace with the machine and not getting distracted. If she kept that, she could run for hours. Unlike the rest of her rich, flabby family, Toph could be a professional athlete, if not for…yeah.

The song had changed. Green Day now throbbed through the speakers. _Hear the sound of the falling rain, coming down like an Armageddon flame, the shame, the ones who died without a name – _

All of her teenage angst years were coming back to her, all the nights that she spent sobbing and drinking and cutting open her own skin with scissors, attempting to make sense of all the bullshit. She found herself singing along, not caring who would hear –

"I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies – this is the dawning of the rest of our liiiiiives…on _holiday_!"

And suddenly it was all merging into one painful memory, the alcohol, the drugs, getting punched in the face by various fighters and cousins and bullies, the first time that her own fist made contact, the feeling of elation, the terror when she was at that party last year, some big guy with no name and no face, pushing her tiny little body into a room and taking off her pants, the absolute terror of _things_, things she couldn't name, things that happened, fingers touching places that should never be touched, that time when the whole world was even darker than before, putting her panties back on without crying, fist on flesh, scissors on flesh, blood on flesh –

And then flesh on flesh, the warmth of Sokka's skin, his gentle fingers that slowly opened her doors, the way that he kissed her like she actually had a _soul_ worth saving…

"Just cause, just cause, because we're _outlaws_, yeah!"

She screamed 'outlaws' because that's all she'd ever been, an outlaw in her family, an outlaw in society, and that's all she'd ever be, because for some fucked up reason, nobody wanted to give the smart, capable girl a chance, just cause she couldn't see –

_I can see! I can see better than any of you! I can see through your bullshit, the façade, the sugar-coated lies! I can see that we're all just trying to climb our mountains, and none of us are willing to help anyone out!_

Except for Sokka. And Katara, and Aang. They were willing. They didn't even know her. Thick legs pounded the treadmill, sweat forming on her bangs, her arms pumping out a rhythm. She pushed it up a notch, going faster than she normally had, her muscles straining to keep up with the pace.

_I've been here a few times – and I'm quite aware we're dying…_

And suddenly her eyes teared up. This was her favorite song in junior high; it had gotten her through many nights of tears.

"Come on let me hold you, touch you, feel you, always, kiss you, taste you, all night, always…"

Could she have it? Could this boy with the handsome voice be it? Could she maybe have someone to share always with her?

_Oh, my God, am I in love with this kid?_

It happened too fast for her to react – her foot slipped, she went down hard, the treadmill flipped her off, she landed on her hands and knees on the floor, panting.

"_Shit_!" She gritted her teeth against the pain and felt around. Her left knee stung when she touched it, and her fingers came back sticky. "Shit-shit-_shit_!"

She reached out for something to pull herself back up, but the treadmill moved beneath her fingers, pushing her back, she fell down against the floor, "_Goddamn_ it!" Frustrated, infuriated, she reached up, finally found the edge of the supports, hauled herself to her feet, but there was something in the way –

She tripped, her toes catching, and went back down – "Godfucking_damn_ it!" She pulled herself to her hands and knees and suddenly couldn't take it anymore.

"Fuck-fuck-fuck-shit-shit-_goddamn_ it!"

Tears streamed down her face and she started screaming, her fists punching out randomly, trying to desperately to get herself to her feet, "Shit-shit-shit-shit!" Sobs tore from her mouth, raw and wet, as she crawled around, suddenly a five-year-old child again, as everything she'd known and loved had vanished and the world became black and cold, running around the house screaming and sobbing, hurting herself as she ran into everything, finally finding a corner and sitting there sobbing for days, not coming out, not eating, just sobbing, why, God, "WHAT THE FUCK?"

The door burst open and she heard Song's voice. "Toph! Sweetie, what's wrong?"

She held out her hand and just sobbed. Song walked quickly up, but Toph shook her head.

"Toph – "

"FUCK!" She screamed, reaching out desperately, where was she? Where was anything? She hadn't had a panic attack like this in years, but she was so fucking scared, where was everything? She couldn't see, she didn't know, she was lost in this cold, black world, she would _die_ in this cold world –

"WHY?" She screamed, her voice raw and filled with pain, curling up into herself, wrapping her arms around herself, "WHY? This is bullshit! I didn't _ask_ for this! This doesn't make any sense! Nothing makes sense!"

Song stepped forward carefully, but Toph just screamed and scooted back, how did she know she wouldn't be hurt again, just like that boy with no name and no face, what if – oh, God, what if Sokka –

"Fuck…_fuck_…fuck…" Her screams descended into panicked swears, curled up on that cold floor, scared and blind and hating herself and everything around her. She let her head rest on the floor and just cried, years' worth of unspent tears falling out to the floor. This was a cruel, cruel world.

Eventually Song managed to get close without Toph pushing her away. In truth, Toph didn't have the strength to push her away. Song, slowly, so as not to freak her out, gently picked up Toph's head and rested it in her lap. Then she stroked her back in slow, slow circles, bringing her panicked breathing down.

She closed her eyes and kept crying. Music kept playing in the background.

_By the way, I tried to say I'd be there, waiting for…_

Song didn't say anything. Just kept stroking, so, so softly.

Finally, Toph said, in a tired voice, "You're really good at this."

"Well," Song said softly, "I used to do this for you all the time. I haven't seen you this bad in years though."

"It's been a hard weekend," Toph murmured. Her fingers reached out to clasp Song's.

"Wanna talk about it?"

'No' was the immediate answer, but somehow, Toph spoke anyway. "I had sex with Sokka. At the party on Friday."

Song didn't stop stroking. She didn't say anything.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Lord, no, sweetie. As long as you used protection and you both wanted to, I don't care. I just want to make sure you're okay. I heard you screaming from all the way upstairs."

Toph was too tired to react. All the screaming had tuckered her out and so she just laid her head down on Song's lap and let the tears leak out.

"You know what happened last year, right?" she said. "When I went to that MMA party in April?"

"I guessed."

"And you know about…you know…when I…why I had those scissors in the bathroom?"

"Another guess, sweetie."

"And you know about…you know…those pills weren't…mine."

"Yes, sweetie."

She closed her eyes and pressed her face against Song's skin. "I'm a terrible liar."

"No, babe, you're a great liar. I just see you naked more often than you realize."

"Oh." Toph realized that she'd never actually known what she looked like after each of those events. "How could you…?"

"In April…you were bruised. Down there. And frankly, you didn't make a whole lot of effort to hide the cuts."

"Oh."

Song started stroking her hair now, brushing her soft bangs away from her face. Toph had always liked that it didn't matter how long her hair was, because she never had to worry about it covering her eyes and preventing her from seeing. She loved the feeling of her eyelashes tickling her bangs. But now, when they were pushed back from her face, she kinda liked that too.

"You know, sweetie," Song said, "the world's not fair, and we all know that. But you can still be honest about how much it sucks sometimes. You don't have to keep it all bottled up."

"I just want to leave," she whispered. "I want to run far, far away. It doesn't matter where I go. I just wish I could see where to go. I hate taking these small steps. I hate always being afraid of falling."

"Oh, sweetie. I'm so sorry. I have no idea what you're going through."

And finally, that was it. That was all Toph wanted. For someone else to admit that this was hard, that she was fighting an uphill battle that she would fight for the rest of her life, and that it was okay to get tired.

"I think I love him," she finally said.

"I know, honey. Let's go eat some ice cream and listen to the Beatles until it all makes sense."

Toph finally smiled and let her friend stroke her hair as the last song on her playlist finally came to a close.

_And I don't want the world to see me, cause I don't think that they'd understand…when everything's made to be broken…I just want you to know who I am…_

* * *

**Hello lovers! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I certainly enjoyed writing this Toph feel. Was going to be an asshole and make Katara still be a bitch, but I knew all y'all'd be pissed, so I tried not to be as big of a dick and give the Kataang ship come fuel :) Songs used in this chapter: The Hell Song by Sum 41, Holiday by Green Day, Always by Blink 182, By the Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Iris by Goo Goo Dolls. (If you could name them all by the lyrics, a big gold star for you - you probably had an angst phase in the 90s/early 2000s, and I love you for it).**

**Next chapter: Zuko feels? We haven't had enough. Also more of #azulaisac***, cause that's always fun. Please let me know what you think! I love the relationship I have with so many of you, and I'm really grateful! Please don't be afraid to PM me - I adore talking to my readers :) Avatard love - PVB**


	15. Bruised

**Chapter Fifteen – Bruised**

* * *

Negative one.

Zuko threw his calculator to the ground and groaned. Ugh, fucking _shit_. He wasn't a genius, but he knew that the derivative of negative sine was _not_ negative one. So why was that the answer coming up on his calculations?

He took a moment and put his head in his hands. It was late. He was still hungover. The old-school Elvis Costello playing in the background was comforting, but it wasn't making his AP Calculus homework any easier. And as the only junior in a class full of seniors, the pressure was on him to get a 5 right out the gate. Unfortunately for him, a certain someone in the senior class happened to be a bit of a math whiz, and the genes were expected to carry.

There was a knock on the door. "Zuko?"

Speak of the devil.

"Yeah?" He called.

Azula opened the door and came in. It was rare to see her in a state of relaxation. No makeup, her hair in a soft ponytail, wearing sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt. Moments like this made Zuko remember why Azula used to be his biggest role model.

She sat down on the bed. "How's homework?"

"Hard. What's the derivative of negative sine?"

"Cosine, silly."

"I got negative one."

"Did you forget the chain rule?"

"Uhh…maybe…"

She laughed. Not her crazy laugh either. Her normal laugh. "Seriously, just memorize the derivatives. It'll make your life easier. I had them memorized by like fifteen."

Oh, there goes the shameless self-promotion. "Zula, we're not all fucking math geniuses here. I just need calculus for business. Next year, I'm taking Stats."

"Good call." A car door slammed outside, and Zuko sat up.

"Is Dad home?"

"No. It's the maids."

Zuko couldn't say 'Thank God' in front of his sister, but she knew. Her sharp amber eyes didn't miss a thing. "Is that why you want to go to college in the Fire District?"

He nodded. The fear that had been on his mind all year suddenly manifested itself, and he couldn't stop himself. "Listen, I'm not saying you're not a raging fucking bitch…cause you are…"

"Compliment taken."

"But Dad is nicer to me when you're around…at least, he ignores me. So I…am kind of not excited that you got accepted to Kai University and you'll be going back to the District."

Azula sighed and leaned back against the pillows. "Well, you may be in luck. I may not be going there. I might be staying here. Going to Capitol College."

"Really? Why?"

"Ozai's going there."

"Oh."

Why did the tone of her voice not seem happy? This didn't sound like a usual girlfriend going to the same college as her boyfriend.

She shook her head. "Whatever. Listen, so I promised Ty Lee I'd go see her cheer competition this morning with Mai."

"Yeah…?"

"And they were both hungover. Completely. Mai looked like shit and I was worried Ty Lee was going to fall off the pyramid."

Zuko's stomach was beginning to sink. Oh, shit…

"They didn't say anything, so I hacked the GPS in your car. I saw that you went to the Beifong mansion last night."

Zuko didn't say anything. What were you supposed to say? The weird thing was, Azula didn't really look mad. She just looked tired.

"So was there a party there? With Aang Nomad and that whole crew?"

There was no point in denying it. "Uh, yeah. Toph – the one who's house it was – she had a fake, so we got pretty trashed."

"Yeah, I figured as much. Anyway, so I drove Ty Lee home afterwards, did some poking, and she told me about you and Suki Kyoshi."

_Oh, shit!_ This kind of pronouncement was usually said with the kind of ferocity that made Zuko find a sharp object to defend himself with. But why didn't she seem mad? She said it with this deadpan voice.

"Uh…yeah?"

"Did you have sex with her?"

"_Azula_! Jesus!"

"I'm not judging, I'm just curious. Mai looked really cut up."

_Fuck_. Zuko threw his head back. "Yeah, okay, we had sex."

"Was it your first time?"

"Okay, seriously, stop with the personal questions."

"I'm your sister, we should know this kind of stuff."

Zuko's face felt like it was on fire. He bent down to pick up his calculator, trying to distract her from the blush on his cheeks. "No, I mean…Mai and I…yeah. It wasn't a big deal, we're not like…together, or anything."

"Okay. So my instincts were right."

Most awkward. Conversation. Ever.

"Azula, not that I don't love talking about my…my sex life with you, but is there something you wanted to say?"

"Yeah. Okay, listen, I'm not gonna tell Ozai about this whole bullshit. Frankly, I don't need him going off on me. Plus, if the worst you did was fuck an Earth District girl and Ty Lee took her clothes off _again_, then who gives a fuck. But you really gotta stop hanging out with these kids."

He knew this was coming. Her face betrayed nothing, but the tightness in her neck told him that she meant what she was saying.

"You know what's gonna happen if Ozai finds out about this – if Dad finds out – I mean, we're both fucked. I'm not up for that. Seriously, just lay low for a year. Let Ozai win this year. And if you're still feeling philanthropic, then you can step down and let the Air kid win next year. It doesn't make any difference."

"What is Ozai's deal? Why is he so crazy about it?"

"You think he tells me?" Azula muttered. "All I know is that I'm supposed to put out and smile and be arm candy like a good girl, even though he knows _I_ want to go to Kai University and study motherfucking criminal justice."

That sudden outburst had them both stunned. Azula pressed her fingers to her mouth and Zuko stared her in the eyes. His sister had never seemed like such a human being.

"Azula," he said softly, "we don't have to do this. Aang's whole message is about being more than your birth dictates. That goes for us too. We've got more power than we realize. We could…I mean, we could rise above this bullshit."

Elvis Costello switched over to U2 as Azula's eyes stayed wide open. Zuko held his breath. Was this…could she actually –

She shook her head and stood up. "You could get shot for that kind of talk, Zuzu. Don't let me see you hanging around with those kids again, or I'll tell Ozai."

"You can't tell me who to hang out with!"

"Wanna bet?" She snarled. He glared back at her, refusing to back down. Her intimidation might have worked when he was a kid, but he was a grown ass man now. Now that he'd used her own brand of manipulation against other people, he knew how to deflect it. He'd learned her weaknesses. Azula thrived off of fear. If you showed her you weren't afraid, eventually she would crumble in on herself.

Finally she curled her lip. "Alright. But if you want to hang out with them, at least make it useful and spy. Tell us what they're planning."

"They're not planning shit, Azula! They just want to win Prom King!"

She crossed over to him and leaned in, her big gold eyes narrowed. "Listen to me, Zuko. You're my brother, and I love you. Ozai loves you. But if you keep this up, he will not hesitate to dispatch any of those kids the same way he got rid of Yue. You want to see that pretty Earth District girl run over? Or Aang?"

She suddenly smiled, noticing that he wasn't outwardly reacting. "Or maybe that Water District girl…what's her name – "

"Not Katara!" Zuko snapped. "You wouldn't!"

"I fucking would," she said coldly. "This is so much bigger than high school. This is about the future generation of Fire District leadership, and what happens at Four Nations High School is top priority for Dad. So don't think he won't go to any lengths to keep us afloat."

He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving.

"Emotions don't matter, kid. We both know it. If they did, you bet your ass I wouldn't be with fucking Ozai. But we've all got to make our sacrifices. So – what are they planning?"

"_Nothing_," he repeated. "They're just trying to get voters to vote for Aang."

"Hmm." She stood up and crossed her arms. "So Aang…anything I should know about him? Any…women in his life?"

"How should I know?"

Azula turned to him with a cold, cold gaze. "Zuko, maybe you didn't understand me. _I will kill Katara Hatori_, and Suki Kyoshi, and all those fuckers. By not letting him win Prom King, you're saving his miserable life. Tell me about Aang."

Zuko had no choice. Just as he'd had no choice his whole life. He'd had no choice about being born into his fucked up family, he'd had no choice about being friends with Ozai, he'd had no choice about Mom.

"He likes Katara," he muttered. "They kinda…kissed, or something. Nothing major."

"Alright," Azula said. "Keep going. What about Katara?"

Zuko gave a bitter laugh. "You're not gonna get much on me about Katara. She's pretty spotless. She probably rescues puppies and kittens in her spare time."

"Suki?"

"She's got a scholarship to Gaolin State next year for martial arts. She can't get in any fights in school or she'll lose it."

Azula gave a sick smile, and Zuko hated himself. His insides felt like they had suddenly turned black and cold. "Excellent. Sokka?"

"I don't know, dude, he plays lacrosse. He and Toph are…I don't fucking know. A thing? Kinda?"

"And Toph…she's blind? Completely?"

"Yeah. Uses hearing aids and a cane. Her family's rich. The Beifongs."

"How rich?"

"Richer than us, that's for damn sure."

Azula frowned. "I don't like that. But keep going. Any of them…emotionally vulnerable? Ready to break?"

Zuko gritted his teeth. "Yeah, all of them. Katara and Sokka lost their mom, and now they're living with Aang since Ozai burnt down their fucking house…Katara's a crying mess…and something tells me Toph is one heartbreak away from a complete meltdown. She's…difficult. And she drinks like a sailor."

"Suki?"

Zuko managed a smile. "Suki's parents have been in jail because of Dad since she was seven. Whatever you're gonna throw at her, she can handle it. She's a fighter."

Azula curled her lip. "You really like this girl?"

"I like her spirit. She dishes it back."

"Do you think she likes you?"

"I don't know, she _fucked_ me, take that for what you will."

"Any other hookups at this party I should know about?"

"I mean…Katara and Aang went off in a room, I think they kissed…and Toph and Sokka went off for a while, nobody has any idea what they did."

"And her parents don't know about this party?"

"Of course not."

Azula smiled and blew him a kiss. "Your help is so appreciated, dear brother. I'll be sure to let you in on any plans to sabotage these poor fuckers."

Zuko felt his anger boiling up, setting his veins on fire, as Azula walked out of the room. She was down the hallway when he bolted up and ran after her.

"Goddamn it, Zula, don't you want better?" He roared after her. His voice echoed through the empty house. "Mai told me! She told me about Ozai! How he forces you to sleep with him! She told me about _Zhao_! Ozai's using you as a _prostitute_, and you won't fucking fight back? Come _on_! Aren't you going to fucking act like a human _being_ for once? Aren't you going to admit that he's _hurting_ you?"

Azula froze. The light from the hallway shined on her blue-black hair. She rested one hand on the wall, her fingers lightly touching the drywall. Zuko could see this week's bruise, normally covered by her hair, right on the back of her neck. It looked like throttle marks. He'd seen ones like these before.

Azula turned around for a second and locked eyes with him. She looked so much like the quiet sister he'd known his whole life – the sister that sat silent at his mother's funeral, her eyes red but staring straight ahead. Her porcelain skin had always bruised so, so easily. Zuko remembered, from all those years ago. This had all started with Dad. After Mom had died, his sweet sister had vanished, lost somewhere amidst the screams, the bruises and blood on her young skin. And as much as Zuko had tried to protect her, tried to stand in the way, her face had somehow formed into this mask. All that left of young Zula were her amber eyes and her soft, soft skin.

She shook her head and headed off into the darkened house. Zuko clenched his fists as the desperate tragedy of his life played out in his mind –

Sister loves Brother. Brother loves Sister. Father manipulates both. Sister loses herself. Brother loses Sister.

Brother ends up alone.

* * *

**Wow...okay, so that was another chapter that did not come out the way I had originally thought. That's one of my favorite things about writing - sometimes you sit down to a write a scene, and you think it's going to come out one way, and the characters have a completely different idea. I think Azula makes so much more sense this way - what about you guys? Didn't get a whole lot of reviews for last chapter, so I'm gonna try harder now :) lots of personal junk going on right now, a lot of issues that need sorted out, so I'm gonna try and keep the chapters coming as much as I can, but I'm not sure when I'm gonna be able to update. But never fear - tLPK (a reviewer used that abbrev the other day, which now means I have permission to use it haha) will remain foremost in my heart, along with my awesome readers ;) All my tender lovin - PVB**


	16. Pride (In the Name of Love)

**Chapter Sixteen – Pride (In the Name of Love)**

* * *

School on Monday was deliciously awkward. Katara and I had avoided each other the rest of the weekend, and were hardly speaking when we arrived at school. Toph showed up, which made Sokka blush furiously, but they seemed to be making an extra effort to be polite. Sokka got called to the principal's office, which at least served to break the tension. Suki came over to us with a smile, which also helped.

"How were the hangovers, kids?" She asked.

"Fuckin' _epic_," Toph said.

"Horrible," Katara said.

"I puked like, three times," I offered.

"I didn't puke, but I couldn't move all of Saturday."

"Got the shit fucked out of you?" Toph said with a smirk.

Suki grinned. "Dude, I have no regrets. Zuko was fantastic. Best drunken hook-up I've ever had."

"Are you guys, like…a thing now?" Katara asked.

"Oh, God, no. The girls would kick my ass if I started dating a Fire District kid. Also, there's the whole Ozai thing. I would very much like to not die."

We laughed just as Sokka came up, his face somber. "What's up?" I asked.

He held out a large envelope as we all fell silent. "It's, uh…Principal Pathik wanted me…well, here."

He opened the envelope and suddenly my heart dropped into my stomach. It was our Homecoming Picture. Katara pressed her hands to her mouth and even Suki's face lost all its humor.

After a moment, Toph said, "Uh…hate to be this girl…but what are we looking at?"

"Our Homecoming Picture," Katara said, taking the picture with shaking hands. "It's our last picture with Yue."

"Oh, no," Toph said, understanding immediately. We all crowded in to look at the picture.

Admittedly, it was a great picture. We all looked fantastic – even Meng, in her frilly pink monstrosity, had a certain charm about her, sitting on that bench with her hands folded in her lap. Katara blushed and grinned from the corner, her hair falling all over her shoulders…and Yue, in the middle…actually looked like a goddess. It was hard for me to look at. Her eyes just seemed to reach out through the camera, like she was right there in front of me.

And suddenly all of the hookups of the weekend were all forgotten, and we were reminded of the tragedies of life – we were all brought together by death and injustice. Katara leaned briefly on Suki's shoulder, allowing her eyes to close.

Surprisingly, it was Sokka who got us moving. He pulled his backpack over his shoulder and brought out a pair of scissors. He removed another large picture, and behind it there was a sheet of eight wallet-sized photos. He methodically began cutting them up and passing them out, one to each of us.

"Toph, are you going to be offended if I don't give you one?" he said with a slight smile.

"Not at all, good sir," she said. "I'll listen to Hide and Seek. That'll be my way of remembering her."

Sokka nodded and looked down at the last three pictures. "I guess we should give one of these to Meng and Haru…and one to her parents…and the last big picture…"

"You have to have it, Sokka," Katara said. "Principal Pathik knew that. That's why he gave it to you."

Sokka nodded, his face set, like he was forcing himself not to break down.

"I'll give these to Meng and Haru," I said, taking the two pictures. "I don't really think Katara wants to talk to him right now."

"Good call," she said, just as the bell rang. We all looked at each other and shared sad, awkward smiles before heading off to class. The show must go on.

* * *

I could only get time to find Meng and Haru at lunch. Haru was sad and solemn when he received his picture.

"Thanks, man," he said. "Also…I mean…will you tell Katara I'm sorry? She'll know what it's about. I'd love to talk to her."

"Oh…" I said. "Yeah, sure." _Over my dead body, asshole._

I was kind of dreading seeing Meng again, but she seemed to have kept true to her word to let me be 'all Katara's'. She did give me a big smile when I came up, and I was a little sad that I didn't get to see her garishly pink clothes more often. But her smile quickly faded when I explained why I was there and pulled out the picture.

"Oh, no…" she murmured, looking at it. "Oh, no…oh, Yue…"

"Look at the bright side," I said. "We were an awesome couple."

"Let me know if you ever want to do it again," she said with a smile, shutting her locker. "Now hurry up, or Katara's gonna get jealous again."

"Again?"

"What do you think we were girl-talking about at Homecoming? You know, with our eyes? She was pissed as all fuck that I kissed you."

"Seriously?"

She laughed. "I swear, boys are so stupid sometimes. See you later, Aang."

And she skipped off down the hall. I stared after her with no idea what had just happened and headed out to finally get some lunch.

But when I headed over to our usual lunch table, I heard the yelling long before I saw what was happening.

" - And if you weren't such a pussy, maybe Yue wouldn't have died!"

"_You shut your damned mouth! _You're the one who fucking killed her!"

"Why don't you stop talking big shit and come make me shut up?"

"In three hours when the school day is over, your ass will be on the _bricks_!"

"What the hell?" I gasped, pushing my way through. It was bad from the start – Katara, Sokka and Toph were on their feet, surrounding Suki, who was covered in ketchup and ranch dressing and looked like she'd just gotten her lunch tray flipped on her. Azula stood in front of them, hands on her hips.

I ran over to stand beside Suki and yelled, "Azula, what the hell is this about?"

"I saw your little pictures circulating," she called out. God, her voice was so cold. "Must be sad, knowing you could've done something to stop her death but you were too _pussy_ to do it."

"I swear to _God_ – " Suki growled, but Katara and I jumped forward to hold her back.

"She's just goading you, she wants you to fight," Katara said in a rush. "You know you can't get in fights during school, you've got your scholarship – "

"Oh, sounds like you're such a good friend," Azula said, "caring more about a scholarship than your dead friend."

Suki was panting like a bull, her bright brown eyes filled with rage as she glared at Azula.

"Come on, Yue wouldn't have wanted you throwing your scholarship away on _her_," I whispered.

Suki finally stood up straight and began scraping ketchup off of her. "I'm better than you, Azula," she called out. "You're not gonna break me."

I looked over and saw Mai and Ty Lee standing in the corner. I glared at them, and Mai raised up her hands. They had no idea where this was coming from.

"Come on, let's go," Katara whispered, taking Suki's arm and walking away. I bent down to pick up the lunch tray and we headed into the gym.

Then Azula's voice shot out one more time –

"Aiko and Minori Kyoshi."

Suki stopped immediately.

_Oh, no_, I thought.

Suki slowly turned around to Azula, her face contorted in rage.

"They're your parents, right?" Azula said casually. We all hung on her every word. "Currently being held in the Boiling Rock Prison in the Fire District, for crimes of insurrection."

Suki slowly walked forward, her thick boots clunking against the pavement. Not even the ketchup on her shirt could diffuse the fear that I felt just looking at her furious face. Her fists were clenched so tight her knuckles were turning white.

"I did some snooping down in Daddy's old records," she said slowly, watching Suki's every move. "It was back in the day, so I'm surprised that he even kept the records…but…I don't know if you remember this…he killed your grandparents, didn't he?"

"Suki, Suki, don't," Katara whispered feebly, but Suki's eyebrows were drawn low.

"You may not remember, but _I_ do…Daddy came home that day and told me all about it…He said, 'The fear in those cowards' faces when I burnt their village and killed their parents…I feel sorry for that little girl that I left here, standing in the middle of the square surrounded by all the dead…to have been raised by such _weaklings_.'"

Suki snapped.

The rumor was that Azula Agni was pretty awesome at martial arts, and I would later find it to be true. But then, she didn't stand a chance. In the span of two seconds, Azula had been thrown to the ground, and Suki was literally pounding the _shit_ out of her face.

"YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT MY PARENTS!" She roared, throwing blow after blow. Blood was flying off her fists. "YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT ME! My parents were _heroes_! They were thrown in jail for destroying your goddamn Fire tanks! I am _fucking_ proud to be their daughter! And I swear to God – " She moved down and started pummeling Azula's stomach now, making her scream in pain, "When somebody finally kills your asshole father and you're the one rotting in jail, I'm going to set everything you love on fire and SEE HOW YOU _FUCKING_ LIKE IT!"

"SUKI KYOSHI!" Mr. Jeong, the PE teacher, had finally rounded the corner and saw the carnage. "Get off of her!"

He pulled Suki off and held her hands behind her back. Nobody dared to help up Azula, who was groaning on the ground. Suki looked down on her with tears streaming down her face, holding her bloody fists by her side with pride.

"Jesus, Kyoshi, what prompted this?" Mr. Jeong said.

"She insulted my family," Suki said, her chin held high.

Mr. Jeong shook his head. "Oh, boy, you are in trouble now. Somebody help Azula to the nurse's station. Come on, Suki, we gotta tell Principal Pathik…you know what this means…you can kiss Shaolin State goodbye…"

Tears poured from Suki's eyes, but she kept her head held high and lead the way to Principal Pathik's office without a backward glance. Slowly, Ty Lee walked forward to help Azula up. She had pushed herself to her hands and knees and was spitting out blood and a few teeth on the ground. But when she looked up at us through her disheveled hair and black eye –

She was smiling.

I felt chills run down my spine. Katara was right. She'd done this on purpose. She wanted to get Suki kicked out.

She was trying to tear us down.

"That girl is a _cunt_," Toph whispered.

* * *

We persuaded Toph to stay for dinner, so after school she called her chauffeur and said she would get a ride back home from one of us. Over a traditional Air District dinner of rice and buttered vegetables (most people from the Air District were vegetarians, something Sokka lamented very heavily since coming to live with us), we vented to Grandfather about the newest trick that Azula had pulled on us.

"And then Jeong came out and said that Suki had violated her scholarship and wouldn't be able to go to college next year!"

Grandfather shook his head, his fingers folded in front of his face. "They really will stop at nothing to get you all to quit."

"I don't understand it," I said. My food was barely touched. "I mean…it's just Prom King. I didn't think it was a big deal."

"At the party…Mai kind of made it sound like they were being forced by their parents. The Fire District must be planning something, some reason why they have to make sure that Ozai wins Prom King. Aang, eat your food," Katara said, suddenly slipping into her bossy tone.

"Yes, Mother," Toph quipped, which made Katara glare (she still hadn't figured out that this particular tactic of hers didn't work so well on Toph).

I picked up my fork and began to eat. The food, while seasoned to perfection, tasted so bland in my mouth. Suki losing her scholarship felt like it was entirely my fault. If I had just kept my head down and not tried this whole crazy 'Prom King' nonsense, maybe she'd still have a scholarship…maybe Sokka and Katara would still have a house…

"Guys, we don't have a choice," I finally said. "We have to stop this. I don't want anyone else to lose something they care about because of this. I'll run next year."

The response was unanimous – all four people around the table yelled 'No!'

"I won't be here next year!" Sokka said, his mouth stuffed with food. "I've been waiting for four years for someone besides Ozai to win Prom King, you have to do it for my class!"

"You've given hope to so many people," Katara said. "The whole school has changed because you ran for Prom King."

"You can't give up," Toph said. "You fucking can't. It's all gonna be worth it when you put that crown on."

Grandfather looked me in the eyes and said, "That's not what Yue died for. Or Suki lost her scholarship for. Or Katara and Sokka lost their house for. They didn't go through that to see you give up. You winning Prom King is the only way to make their sacrifices worthwhile."

I looked around at all the smiling faces and had no choice but to smile back. "You guys are right," I said. "We've come too far now."

"Besides," Sokka said, "Suki's a fighter. You bet she's proud she did that. And when she comes back, she's gonna be voting for you the same as the rest of us."

"We were all there when Yue died," Katara said. "There's no going back from that. We're in it to win it."

Toph had a frown on her face for some reason, but I couldn't stop the smile on my face. "I swear, all of you are amazing."

"I know, right?" Sokka said.

We all laughed and Grandfather stood up. "Alright, you all need to do homework. Aang and Katara are on dish duty tonight, and Sokka's on pet food duty."

"I'll help him," Toph said, standing up. Sokka smiled, thanked Grandfather for the food, and went out back to where we kept the pet food, Appa and Momo following him excitedly. Toph grabbed her cane and followed the sound of their paws, with Sokka helpfully calling out, "Follow my voice, gimpy!"

Grandfather smiled and headed off to his room – the rule of the house was, when you cooked you didn't have to clean – and Katara and I gathered up the dishes and put them in the sink. Once there, Katara turned on the water, squirted soap in, and started washing. She always did the washing – I always did the drying. District stereotypes to the max, but somehow it worked. She always had this contented little smile on her face when she was up to her elbows in warm, soapy water, and I loved getting every last drop off of the plates. We worked in contented silence for a few minutes, the darkening sky outside serving as a beautiful backdrop.

"Katara?"

"Mmm?"

"So…we kissed…a few times…"

"…Yeah?"

"Do you…I mean, I'd love to take you out on a date sometime. If you would…I just…"

I snuck a peek and saw that she was smiling, her blue eyes down on the dishes. "Yeah, Aang, I'd love to."

"You would?" My heart leapt up in my throat. "Really? But what about Sokka?"

"Oh, after Haru and Jet, I think he'll find it in him to let me go on a date with a nice boy that he already knows. But if it really matters, you can go ask him."

"Okay," I said. My hands were shaking with the towel. "I'm really excited, Katara. I'm gonna knock your socks off."

She laughed. "Oh, I know. Oh, and Aang?"

"What?"

"You missed a spot."

"Where?"

I turned to her, and she poked her soapy finger right on my nose.

"There!"

I started laughing, and she started giggling, her eyes all crinkled up with laughter. I scooped up a handful of soap and smeared it over her cheeks, and she gasped and did the same, and before I knew it were standing in the kitchen, cracking up with both of our faces covered in soap.

I swear to God, this girl was my soulmate.

* * *

"He's so sweet, isn't he?"

"He's pretty much the shit," Sokka said, filling up Appa's food bowl. Toph sat on the ground as Appa licked all over her face, eliciting a girly giggle that he would not have thought possible of her.

"I need to come over more often. If I had these guys, I'd never be stressed again."

"Yeah, you're practically part of the family by now."

Momo had now snuck up on Toph's lap. She petted his butt, not knowing where his head was, and he mewed and stuck his hand right under her hand.

"Sorry, buddy. Yeah, but look how nice he is to the blind!"

"Animals don't discriminate. My grandfather had this awesome komodo dragon named Fang. He was pretty deaf by the end, but I swear, that guy was smarter than most people I know."

"Oh, if only that would work with humans. Most people assume I'm an idiot. Off you go, buddy." Toph stood up and patted Appa once on the head. "I'mma head to the bathroom, okay?"

"Sure thing, shorty."

She grabbed her cane and made her way back to the house. Sokka stared after her for a moment. She'd taken to wearing real boots lately, with fur and everything. He suspected it was due to her overprotective parents. But no boots or skinny jeans could distract from that ass.

He shook his head and filled up Momo's bowl. What was going on with them? They'd taken each other's virginity and suddenly were acting buddy-buddy. Toph didn't look like she wanted to talk about it. Did she regret it…?

"I don't get it, Momo," he asked, as the cat came up and ate the food. "Does she only want to be romantic with me when we're drunk?"

Momo mewed.

"Aw, thanks for the confidence boost, man. Licking her face would be a perfect way to get her to fall for me."

Momo mewed and continued eating. Sokka rolled his eyes and walked back to the house, Appa trotting alongside him.

"Last time I take advice from a cat," he muttered to the dog.

Appa barked. When Sokka stopped chuckling, he heard the sound of acoustic guitar coming from inside the house. He opened the gate and let Appa in and followed the hallway to his room, where Toph sat on the bed. Her hair was down, a contented smile on her face, her fingers deftly making chords as her fingers strummed the guitar.

"You got a fast car," she sang, her voice soft and sultry. "I won a ticket to anywhere…maybe we can make a deal…maybe together we can get somewhere…"

He sat down beside her, intending to just listen to her sing. But the action on the bed startled her, and she snapped her head up, wide blank eyes looking around.

"Sokka?"

"Oh, sorry, dude, didn't mean to interrupt."

"Oh, no, _I'm_ sorry, I know you don't want people playing your dad's guitar – " She tried to hand the guitar to Sokka, but he pushed it back.

"Nah, he would've wanted you to play it. I've been a little too sad to play lately, anyway."

She smiled and kept going without words, her strokes sure and steady, the music filling up the room. It was a little too much for him right now.

"I'm gonna get water, okay?"

Without waiting for her response, he bolted out of the room. At the kitchen he filled a glass with tap water and stood beside the sink. There were still lingering bubbles in the sink from Katara and Aang's dishwashing. He could see their vague, slumped forms sitting out on the porch. Was Aang gonna ask his damn sister out on a date already?

Was he gonna ask Toph on a date already?

He groaned and threw back his head. He had never had trouble with a girl like this before. And no matter what his friends had told him, losing his virginity was special for him too. There would always be a part of him that was with her. And the fact that they weren't together…well, he wanted more than one drunken night with the beautiful, guarded blind girl.

Grandfather passed through the room, saw Sokka's disgruntled face, and said, "Lady troubles?"

Sokka turned around. "Oh, no, Grandfather, it's okay…"

He shook his head with a smile. "I can see, son. She really is beautiful. You should act quickly."

"How?" Sokka asked.

Grandfather frowned for a moment, and then held up one finger. "Follow me."

They went down the dark hallway to Grandfather's study, a place Sokka had never really been before. He flicked on the lights and ambled over to a beautiful glass case on the wall, where a gorgeous wooden ukulele hung beneath display lights.

"Oh, wow!" Sokka said.

"It was one of the few things that we took from the Air District," Grandfather explained, opening the case. "Thankfully, I had hidden it in the bunker a few weeks before, anticipating a raid. It's a very rare antique."

And he handed it to Sokka. "Do you play?"

"Uh…I mean, yeah, it's basically the same, my dad taught me the chords…Grandfather, I _can't_ play your antique ukulele!"

"This ukulele may be antique, but the love that binds me to it is not," Grandfather said. "Nor is the love that might grow between you and Toph. We should not let preservation of the old keep us from embracing the new. I assure you, a little wear and tear on the strings would be an honor to the ukulele, not a disparagement."

He quickly strummed. "It's still in tune. Hurry!"

"Thank you," Sokka said breathlessly, holding the ukulele and dashing off down the hall. Toph was still singing on the bed, her sweet, low voice filling the room. She stopped when she heard him come in.

"Hey, bro."

"Hey, girl. Guess what I found?"

"What?"

He strummed, and Toph's whole face perked up. "A ukulele! Get the fuck out! You play? Where did that come from?"

"Grandfather's pretty much awesome," he said, sitting down beside her. "And yeah, do you?"

"No, but I've always wanted to learn."

"It's way easier than guitar. I can teach you?"

Her cheeks blushed. "I'd like that, Snoozles."

Sokka grinned and started awkwardly forming chords, relearning how to play. The sound was high and happy.

"Alright, listen up," she said. "It's a little overplayed, but still a good song. You know 'Hey, Soul Sister'?"

"Uh, I mean, I know the song, I don't know the chords – "

"It's super easy," she said, hiking the guitar up on her knee. "It's just C, G, A minor, F. Follow my lead. It really only sounds good with the guitar _and_ uke."

She started strumming, her fat little fingers back and forth against the strings. Sokka formed a C chord and strummed too. Toph grinned and started singing –

"Heeey…heeeey….heeeey…"

She stopped. "I'm only singing if you sing too, boy."

"I can't sing!"

"You think I fucking can? That's the fun! Come on now – Your lipstick stains, on the front lobe of my – "

"Left side brains," Sokka joined in, unable to stop his smile. "I knew I wouldn't forget ya, so I went and let you blow my mind."

"Your sweet moonbeam, the smell of you in every dream I dream," they sang together, "I knew when we collided, you're the one I have decided, who's one of my _kind_ – "

Okay, seriously, why was this song the story of how Sokka felt about this girl? This was creepy.

"Hey, soul sister, ain't that mister mister on the radio, stereo, the way you move ain't fair you know! Hey, soul sister, I don't wanna miss a single thing you do…to_niiiight_…"

They played to the end of the song, Toph with a giddy smile on her face, Sokka suddenly remembering the feel of the strings against his fingers, the happy sound that was made when two instruments played together in perfect harmony. He suddenly missed his father with all his heart, missed the nights when they used to give concerts for Katara and Mom…but he thought if his father couldn't be here…this girl was pretty much the next best thing.

Neither of them realized when Katara, Aang and Grandfather started clapping at the end of the song. Sokka spun around, barking, "Since when have you all been here?"

"Since the beginning!" Aang said. "Dude, you guys were awesome!"

Katara's smile was a little more personal. "Sokka, I haven't heard you play like that since we left home."

"Yeah, well…I got a good partner," he admitted, which made Toph duck beneath her bangs. "Haven't had one since Dad left."

Katara's sneaky blue eyes roved over the two of them, finally saying, "You two sound good together." She winked at Sokka, taking advantage of Toph's blindness, and grabbed Aang to go back down the hall. Sokka was about to turn back to Toph when he saw Grandfather looking at him. He gave a thumb's up, and Grandfather gave it back, before he too turned away.

God, Sokka could get used to this 'blind girl' thing. It made communication so easy.

Toph put the guitar down and smiled at him. "Thanks for that, Sokka. Made me feel good."

"That's all I can ask for."

She frowned for a moment. "Tomorrow's gonna be a shit day at school. We have to face Azula. Suki might be completely fucked."

"Can't deny that," Sokka said. But he reached out for her hand. "But at least we'll have tonight."

Toph beamed at him, her milky eyes suddenly shining like stars. "That's all I can ask for."

* * *

**Awww. Cute moments! Threw in some Tokka/Kataang after Suki goes apeshit. One of my favorite scenes to write ever, by the way, I hope you enjoyed it. Songs used are Fast Car by Tracy Chapman and Hey, Soul Sister by Train. I actually play ukulele, and I used to performs with a guitar player for retreats where we would do covers of popular songs, like Hey Soul Sister, so I knew it would sound cute. I actually played this with my Dad, who's a guitar player, before writing this chapter, to kind of get a feel for the song :) Obviously Sokka's guitar playing links him to his dad in the same way my ukulele playing links me to my family, which is a very musical one. I take my uke everywhere with me, especially when I'm across the country and away from home. Anyway, just a little fluff from Pegelia...**

**Next chapter: Azula continues her streak of bitchiness, and then it gets more fun from there. Thank you all so much for reading! See you next time - PVB**

**PS. If you can name the band who wrote the song that is referenced in the title, four for you Glen Coco, you go Glen Coco!**


	17. Lonely Girl

**Chapter Seventeen – Lonely Girl**

* * *

There were many things I expected to see when we came to school that next day. Perhaps Azula, playing some sort of 'Na-na-na-na goodbye' song; maybe the Kyoshi Warriors in some sort of protest, with signs; maybe Azula lying on the pavement, a golden fan protruding from her heart.

I was not expecting to see a smiling Suki on that overcast day.

"Suki!" Katara gasped, running up. "What happened? Why do you look happy?"

"Cause Principal Pathik is the _shit_," she said as we all gathered around. "Jeong was all ready to fire me with the rest of the Fire District teachers, but Principal Pathik swooped in and said that I'd had a stellar criminal record ever since I got out of juvy five years ago – "

"Why were you in juvy?" Sokka asked.

"Oh, you know, the usual, some bitch was mouthing off so I cut her tires, sent her threatening text messages of guns and faked a positive pregnancy test that I left in her bathroom for her boyfriend to find. _Any_way, he managed to find all these eyewitnesses to testify that Azula had provoked me, and they had no choice but to let it slide and not report me to Shaolin State!"

I was still reeling over the whole 'juvy' thing, but Sokka and Katara cheered. "Oh, my God, you get to go to college! Yaaay!" Katara yelled, as she jumped up and totally glomped Suki. "Azula can't bring you down!"

Sokka got in a stance and bellowed out, in his best Lord of the Rings impression, "Azula – _you have no power here_!"

"Not when you have my baldness!" I cried.

"And my maternal instincts!" Katara said.

"And my sarcasm!" Sokka added.

"AND MY AXE!" Toph roared, as she came walking up to us. "Sorry, what are we talking about?"

We all cracked up and Suki grinned. "Bitch, Pathik let me off the hook! I'm not losing my scholarship over that cocksucker after all."

"_Sweet_!" Toph said with a grin. "I knew Azula wasn't going to win. The good guys always win."

"I don't know who the hell let you be on the side of the good guys," Katara said.

"I _know_, right?"

"Hey, Zuko," I said.

He came up to us with a hood pulled low over his face for some reason. His whole face looked awful, and we all sobered up quickly.

"Guys, I am so sorry," he said.

"For what?" Katara asked.

"I told my sister about Suki's scholarship."

Sokka narrowed his eyes and Toph swore, but for some reason I wasn't mad. He looked too repentant.

"Why did you do that?" I asked.

"She kinda…blackmailed me…" he said. His eyes locked on Katara's. "She threatened to…well, she threatened to kill you guys if I didn't tell you."

There was a swooping sensation in my stomach. It felt like something out of a movie set.

The worst part was, we all knew it was true. There was no, 'Haha, no she wouldn't', or 'She's just bluffing'. We all had solemn faces, knowing that this girl actually would kill us. She'd killed Yue.

"What else did you tell her?" Suki asked.

"Nothing too important…she figured out we were at a party together, she hacked my GPS. And then, you know, about your parents in jail, and then Katara and Sokka's mom, and how Aang lived with his grandfather. Random stuff like that."

Katara sighed. "Well, nothing for it. It's not that bad. She's already done the worst she can to Sokka and I, and her attack against Suki failed."

"She's not gonna dare to touch me, my parents are too important," Toph said.

I managed a smile at Zuko. "It's all good, dude. You did what you had to."

"You guys are going to keep going?"

"Fuck yeah," Suki said. "We've faced worse haters than this."

"Yeah, because I'm totally gonna vote for a bitch who started a fight and _burnt down my house_," Sokka said.

My heart swelled. I really had amazing friends. The bell rang and we all broke and headed to class. Now for the part of the morning that I'd been expecting – preparing for, even.

I ran up beside Sokka and said, "Hey, dude?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"So, Katara and I…we…"

"Yeah?" Sokka had an evil smile. I hated him in that moment. This fucker was not going to help me out at all.

"Look, so I really like her."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"And I was going to ask you…since I can't really ask her dad…can I take her out for a date?"

Sokka stopped in front of his classroom and looked me up and down. "Well, there's really no polite way to say this, so…no."

I think my heart stopped beating.

"_What_?" I gasped.

"I don't really think you're good for her. You're bald, you have no career aspirations, you have terrible fashion sense, and you live with your grandfather. It's not gonna happen."

I just stared at him. Oh, my God. How was I going to convince him? He had to know, I loved Katara, like really _loved_ her –

"Jesus Christ, Aang, I'm fucking joshing with you," Sokka said with a smile. "Of course you can take Katara on a date! God, it's about damn time. Lighten up, man."

And he clapped me on the shoulder and headed into the classroom. For a moment I stood there, my heart pounding out of my chest, and then I finally smiled.

_Thank God._

* * *

"Toph? Would you come down here, please?"

Toph's fingers paused over the line of Braille text she was reading. She frowned. It was too late for them to have dinner. What was up?

She got up and walked down stairs.

"Mom?" She called out from the living room. "Where are you?"

"In the study. Over here."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She fucking knew where the study was, she'd lived here since she was born. She made her way into the study, where she assumed her parents were sitting on two ornate chairs up against the back wall.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Toph," her father said, "what were you doing last weekend when we were gone?"

"Uh, studying. Hanging out with Song and Long Wei. The usual."

"So why does Long Wei say that you paid him three hundred dollars to stay away from the house for the weekend?"

_Ugh, last time I ever trust Long Wei to do shit. _"Because it's ridiculous that you guys got a babysitter for me. I'm fifteen years old and I've got Song. I'm _fine_."

"Apparently fine enough to completely disobey us."

"Okay, what's going on?"

"I received an email at work today," her father said. "Telling me that there had been a party at this house last Friday, and that if I wanted proof I should look under your bed."

"How do you explain _these_?" Her mother cried.

There was a moment of silence.

"Mom, seriously? I'm _blind_."

"Under your bed," she said, her voice cracking, "we found three bottles of liquor, a packet of birth control and a _man's t-shirt_."

Oh. Well. If that's the worst they found –

"And in your closet, we found a pair of boxing gloves, and some sort of homemade poster that said 'The Blind _Bitch'_!"

Never mind. That's pretty bad.

Toph sighed and put her hands on her hips. She was strangely calm considering that her parents had just found out all of her secrets. This conversation was a long time in coming. Maybe it was about time they learned.

"So, in tonight's version of 'Bitch-Toph-out', where should we start?" she asked.

"Where _do_ we start?" her father fumed. "First of all, why were you throwing a party? Who came?"

"I have friends now. A couple of Water District siblings, and some Fire and Earth kids, and the last Air District boy. Maybe if you actually _talked_ to me ever, then you'd know that. I invited them over."

"Who bought you alcohol? Was it that awful girl Song?"

"Don't talk bad about Song," Toph snapped. "She's been taking care of me since I was a kid. And she's not even old enough. No, I, uh…I have a fake ID."

"_Toph_!" her mother cried. "How long have you been drinking?"

"Oh, I don't know," she sighed, "maybe around the time that I started stealing your drugs, and Aunt Miya's, and every family members' and taking loads of them to deal with the fact that I would go _weeks_ without seeing you guys."

The air felt like lava. Now that she started, Toph could feel the words pressing against her teeth, ready to come out. Her parents were stunned.

"Toph," her mother whimpered, "you were the one who stole my Xanax?"

"And your Adderall, and Aunt Miya's OxyCotin, and Long Wei's Vicodin from his shoulder surgery…yeah. Sorry."

"Were you…I mean…was that what the birth control was for? Because you were having…_sex_ to deal with this…depression?"

"Actually, no, I first got on birth control to deal with my fucking awful periods, and because you guys wouldn't let me, so I went to the clinic. But now…"

"You've had _sex_?" her mother wailed.

"Just once!" Toph said. "And it's none of your damn business!"

"Toph, this is absolutely heinous," her father said. "I can't believe that you would so openly disobey us."

"Well, it was easy to do, you guys were never home. I didn't exactly feel the need to be a good daughter when you guys won't even _acknowledge_ my presence. The people at the company don't even know I exist!"

"We're worried that people would try to take advantage of you, dear," her mother said. "Because of…well…your shortcomings."

"My _shortcomings_?" Toph couldn't stop herself. The explosion was like a volcano. "Are you _fucking_ kidding me? Just say it! Your _blindness_! I'm fucking _blind_! I can't _see_! You guys have no problem reminding me of it when I'm trying to do basic things, but suddenly when we're trying to call it what it is, you try and sugar-coat it like the wimps you are! I'm blind, and the only thing it's ever stopped me from doing is becoming a flabby spoiled pussy like the rest of my goddamn cousins!"

"Is that why you do this – this – boxing?"

"It's not boxing, Dad, it's MMA. Mixed martial arts?"

"That sport is disgusting!" her mother said.

"It's _awesome_, Mom! And I'm really good at it! I'm the undefeated champion! It makes me feel alive, like I can take on anyone."

"How _can_ you fight?" her father said.

"My hearing aids, guys. I can hear when people are close, I can hear the sounds their fists and feet make. I don't waste time responding to attacks that aren't lethal. I'm completely reinventing the sport. They've never seen anybody like me. I do it down at school on Thursday nights."

Her parents were silent. Toph stayed, hands on her hips, feeling her hair brush her eyelashes. It was out. Everything was out.

"And…this t-shirt…was from that boy you had…_sex_ with?" Her mother said softly.

"Yeah. His name's Sokka. You guys would like – well, maybe you wouldn't, he's dirt poor. But _I_ like him."

"Did you use…_protection_?"

Oh, my God. She'd always been mad at her parents for never having 'the sex talk' with her, but now she could see why. It was awkward as _fuck_.

"Uh, I mean, I'm on birth control, so…but…I mean…" she sighed, pursing her lips. Might as well say it. "I'm a few days late on my period, so, I don't know."

"What in the _hell_ do you mean, you're a few days late?" her father hissed.

"I mean, I'm a few days late," she said. "It's not a huge deal, I'm late every so often, even with birth control."

"Since when? You used to be perfectly regular last time we checked," her mother said in a whisper, like she was afraid someone would hear her talking about periods with her fifteen-year-old daughter. Jesus.

Toph blew her bangs out and clenched her teeth. Really? Was she going to say it? She hadn't said it out loud to anybody. Not even Song. Was this really –

Maybe they'd trust her. Maybe they'd understand.

"I was – I mean – I was raped," she finally said, her voice breaking. "Last April. At a party. Not…like that…there was just…he…you know…_fingered_ me, and there was a lot of blood and tearing and bruising, and…yeah, I haven't been regular since then."

She felt hot tears prickling at her eyes and blinked them back. No crying. Beifongs didn't cry.

"Toph…oh my word…" her mother said softly. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Why do you think? You guys didn't seem like you cared. You came in to make sure I was doing my homework and to remind me every goddamn day that I'm blind and I need taking care of. I figured you'd just…chew me out for even being at a party."

"Of course we would," her father snapped. "Toph, I can't say I'm surprised. You go to these kind of parties with these... these boxers – "

"MMA fighters, Dad."

"I don't care! You go to these…these parties and you're surprised that…_that_ happens? I'm sorry, but I can't exactly find a lot of sympathy for you. You brought this on yourself."

For maybe the third time in her life, Toph was stunned silent. _What_?

"And I imagine that you were wearing those revealing clothes you insist on wearing? It's beyond me why you even wear them, you don't _know_ what you're wearing – "

"Wait, you're kidding, right?" she said. This couldn't be real. Her father couldn't be this big of an asshole.

"What am I kidding about? You hang out with this crowd, that's what you're going to get. Maybe now you learned your lesson."

"Oh, my God," Toph said. "Oh, my God. You think I _deserved_ to be raped."

"Toph, I – "

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God." Her voice was suddenly rising by decibels, her chest heaving. She wished she could see, see what his face looked like, if he really meant what he said. "You've got to be fucking kidding me. You think I deserved to get raped because I hang out with that crowd? You don't even know those people, don't know how awesome most of them all, and you're going to say that I deserved to be raped because of your bullshit stereotypes about everyone who isn't _you_?"

"Toph, that's no way to speak to your father – " her mother said.

"_Bullshit_!" She screamed. Her voice ricocheted through the house. "What do you want me to say, I'm fucking sorry that I went to that party, because I thought that for once in my life I could find a real friend? I'm sorry that this guy who weighed twice what I did took advantage of me, and it wasn't because I was blind, it was because he would have done it to any girl at that party. Yeah, that's it, I'm fucking _sorry_ that it fucked me up even more and I started cutting and drinking and drugging, yeah, that's it, I'M SORRY, DAD, I'M SORRY, OKAY, ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"

Her chest heaving, Toph stood in front of her parents, fists clenched, suddenly aware that everyone's world was crashing down with this statement. She couldn't see her parents, but she imagined they had shocked and scared looks on their faces. As for her, she just felt defiant. She held her back straight and tall and forced them to come to grips with the daughter that they hadn't meant to raise.

"I feel like I don't even know you anymore, sweetie," her mother said softly.

"You've never known me, guys. I've never been the helpless, obedient blind girl that you thought I was, that you want me to be. That's…I decided, a long time ago, that I wasn't going to let my disability and my last name dictate where I was going in this life. So…this is who I am. I'm sorry." She took a deep breath. "I mean that. I didn't mean to hurt you guys. But you were the ones hurting me. And I couldn't – I can't live like that."

Her heart pounded rapidly, suddenly finding all of these emotional words seeping into the air, words that maybe she'd secretly always wanted to say.

"So you intend to…continue like this?" Her father said.

"Like what?"

"This…this fighting you do, the sex, drugs, alcohol – "

"I quit the drugs," she said. "They were destroying me. I didn't like the way I acted on them. And, uh, there's not exactly a list of guys lining up to have sex with me, so I don't think you have anything to worry about there. But the alcohol – I can stop that if you guys want."

"But the fighting?"

She shook her head. "I can't quit that, Dad. I'm sorry. That's who I am. It makes me feel powerful. I don't want to quit. And I don't really see why I should. Don't you want me to be able to defend myself?"

"You shouldn't have to!" he said. "There should be no reason why a wealthy girl like you should ever have to defend yourself. We would take care of that for the rest of your life."

"I don't _want_ you to take care of me for the rest of my life! I want to be able to live my own life, make my own choices! I have to leave the nest at some point, guys!"

There was silence. She imagined her parents were sharing some sort of glance.

"Lao, don't – " her mother said.

"I don't have a choice, Poppy. This is completely unacceptable. She's going to get hurt."

"What?" Toph said, suddenly terrified. "What are you talking about?"

"This was exactly what we feared when we sent you to Four Nations. I'm afraid…I think it's time you finally went to the Deaf and Blind High School."

Toph's heart dropped into her stomach. "_What_? You're going to pull me out of school?"

"You need to be in a place with others with your disabilities. Going to a normal high school is doing things to you, making you into some sort of…daredevil that we cannot accept here. You are a Beifong, and whether or not you are blind, you need to start acting like it. This fighting, and these friends of yours…well, I'm afraid, that's simply not what we envisioned for you."

"You're kidding. You're going to take me away from all of my friends and put me in the deaf and blind school? They're just going to hold me back there! Going to Four Nations is the only way I'm going to learn how to take care of myself!"

"Toph, it's for your own good," her mother said.

Her heart slammed in her chest, the darkness suddenly pressing down on her. "Oh, my God, please! I love it at Four Nations! My friends and I, we're doing something important! We're resisting the Fire District!"

"You're _what_?" her father barked.

_Oh, shit. Nice one, Toph._

"I mean, not like that, we're just – "

"You know how important the Fire District is to our business! Are you trying to sabotage the Beifong company?"

"No, Dad, I just – "

"After all of this – this – _shit_ that you're doing, and you're even trying to destroy the company? _That is it, Toph!_ I will not have insurrection like this in my family! You go to your room right now, young lady, and you can kiss Four Nations High goodbye! We are calling them first thing in the morning! And you can take those boxing gloves and liquor bottles and birth control and throw them in the trash, because it is all going up in flames tonight!"

Her mother quietly sobbed from her chair. Toph had never felt so vulnerable, so scared, like her father had ripped down her 'tough girl' defenses that she'd worked so hard to build up. This couldn't be it. This couldn't be the end of the line.

She slowly turned around and began to edge her way out of the room, spreading her fingers to try and find the furniture that would help her out.

"Toph, do you need help, dear – " her mother called.

"Jesus, Mom, I can find my way to my room!" she screamed, her voice breaking. The hot tears finally fell from her eyes as she hustled out of the room as quickly as she could, slamming her shin against a stool as she went. She swore and hurried over to the grand staircase, hearing servants whisper as she passed.

Her eyebrows pulled low as she climbed the staircase. She brushed her bangs out of her eyes.

_Like hell you're taking me out of school._

* * *

It was a soft, rainy night at Casa Gyatso. We were all sitting in the living room, Katara and I doing homework, Sokka strumming lazily at his guitar. Grandfather did his crossword puzzle with Momo on his lap, and Appa snoozed by the fireplace. It was rare for all of us to feel so at peace like this, with the rain pounding on the roof and dripping off the gutters. The crackling lightning somehow accompanied Sokka's playing perfectly.

There was a great roll of thunder, and in the midst of it, I could barely hear three soft knocks.

"Did you guys hear a knock?" I asked.

Sokka shrugged, but Katara said, "Yeah, I heard it. I'll go answer the door."

"Be careful," I said, "you don't know who comes out during the rain."

She rolled her eyes and got up off the couch, her soft slippers padding the ground as she walked over. There was a moment of silence before the door opened and the sound of rain filled the house. Then Katara gasped –

"Oh, my God – _Toph_!"

The three of us jumped up and ran over. There, in the pouring rain, was Toph, her bangs so wet they completely covered her eyes, clothes dripping, carrying a backpack and two suitcases. Another girl with a soft face stood behind her with an umbrella, carrying another suitcase.

"Can I come in?" Toph asked, her voice quiet.

"Oh, my word, of course! Come on in!" Katara said, ushering her inside. Sokka immediately ran off to get some towels as Toph stood in the foyer, dripping off. Her shoulders slumped, and she was wearing what looked like sweatpants and a t-shirt. We still couldn't see her eyes, but her mouth was turned down in a sad frown.

Sokka came back with two towels, and handed one to the other girl and one to Toph. Katara immediately snatched Toph's away and started drying her off herself. I waited for the inevitable protest from Toph, but it didn't come. Instead, Toph stood meekly as Katara fussed and cooed over her, barking out instructions for Sokka to get her bathrobe. The other girl didn't seem to be that wet, and she just looked down at Toph with sad eyes.

Finally Katara got to Toph's bangs and fluffed them out, which showed us her eyes. At first I thought they might just be wet because of the rain, but then I looked closer – they were rimmed with red. She'd actually been crying.

"Thanks, Katara," she said quietly. "This is my friend Song – oh, and she's my maid too."

"Thank you for letting us in," Song said, setting down the umbrella.

"No problem," Grandfather said. "Now why are you out in the rain with all these suitcases, my dear?"

Toph stood still as a statue, her head hung down. "I just ran away from home."

There was a sharp intake of breath around the room. "_What_?" Katara whispered.

"They were…they found out about the party, and the liquor, and the…the…the MMA stuff, and so I told them about what happened last year, and all of that stuff, and then they heard we were resisting the Fire District, and they said they were going to transfer me to the deaf and blind school – "

"What happened last year?" I asked, but Song met my eyes and shook her head furiously. Toph rubbed at her eyes and tried very hard to keep herself under control.

"And they were just…they couldn't accept me, what I'd gone through…so I went to my room and called Song, and we did all the paperwork, so I'm free – "

"What are you talking about, sweetie?" Katara said. Toph shook her head and dropped to the ground. Song knelt down beside her, putting her arms over her shoulders, and addressed us.

"It happened pretty quickly. We submitted the court paperwork for an emancipated minor, so Toph's parents aren't her legal guardians anymore. And then we transferred all of her bank accounts into her name only, so her parents can't access it. Then we packed only the essentials and drove away. I doubt her parents even know she's gone, and when they find out, it'll be too late."

Toph rubbed the heels of her hands against her eyes, like she was trying to rub sight into them. Song stroked her back as the rest of us sat in shocked silence. Toph had run away from her parents? Was this seriously happening?

"How did your parents find out?" I asked. "Did one of the servants – "

Song shook her head. "Somebody emailed Mr. Beifong at work."

"It was probably Azula," Toph said, her voice so low and gravelly. "Zuko mentioned the party to her. It was bound to happen."

Another person who's life got flipped upside down because of this revolution. I bit back the anger and shame welling up in my mouth.

"Anyway," Toph said, looking upward with her milky, sightless eyes, "can I stay here for a while? Just until I find my own place. I'd stay with Song, but she lives inside the mansion."

"Toph," Katara whispered. "you can't live on your own."

"Besides, dear, that's nonsense," Grandfather said. "We'd love for you to stay with us. Our house is your house."

Toph finally smiled, though it was just a little one. "Thank you so much."

Song nodded her thanks and then turned to Toph. "Sweetie, I have to get back to the mansion, before your parents find out I'm gone."

"What's gonna happen to you?" Toph asked. "I mean…will they fire you?"

"Not if they don't think I had anything to do with it. Don't worry about me, hun." She gently brushed aside Toph's bangs and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I've got enough money saved up to get an apartment for the rest of high school. I'll be okay, I promise."

Toph gave a wavering smile. "I love you, Song."

"Love you too, sweetie." She squeezed her tight and got up, then walked quietly over to Katara.

"Don't unpack her clothes," she whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear. "She likes to do it herself, so she'll get her own system set up. And don't try to baby her too much, she hates it. Wait for her to ask for help. Oh, and whatever you do, don't leave anything at the foot of the shower or her bed. She's broken both arms by stepping on stuff that way, she _hates_ it."

Katara nodded in agreement, and I could see her eyes lighting up at the prospect of another charge to take care of. Song thanked us all one last time and then slipped out the front door. Toph groped around for her cane and then slowly hauled herself to her feet.

"I'm gonna take a shower, okay?"

We all nodded, quickly realized that was a bad idea, and then all said 'yes' as one, which at least prompted a small smile from Toph. She picked up her backpack and a suitcase and walked into Katara's room, dripping water all over the carpet, and Katara followed her with the other two suitcases. Her shower lasted for a good twenty minutes, and Katara, whose mommy senses were in overdrive, stayed outside the door listening, and told us with sad eyes that she heard unmistakable sounds of sobbing. I looked over at Sokka and saw a strangely overprotective look in his eyes, as well.

* * *

The knock finally came late, around ten or so. Sokka was sitting in his room, waiting for it. When she knocked, Sokka sent Aang a glance and got up to answer the door.

Toph stood there, drearily rubbing her eyes. She had on a pair of green silk pajama pants and a white tank top. Her thick hair had been plaited into two braids, presumably by Katara.

"Sokka?" she murmured.

"Hey, Toph," he responded.

"Can I borrow your guitar? Kinda need some venting time, you know?"

"Of course," he replied, going over to get his guitar, which he had already taken out of its case.

Toph took it by the neck and offered a plastic smile that Sokka saw right through. "Thanks, man." She turned and trudged down the hall without her cane, keeping one hand out until she found the sliding screen door and opened it up.

For a moment there was silence, except for the sound of the rain against the roof.

"There's another door," Aang finally said. "Around by the kitchen. It's pretty quiet. You can get out that way."

"Thanks, man," Sokka said gratefully, rushing out of the room to the kitchen. He waited a moment to test the screen door. It squeaked just a little when he opened it, but he figured that the rain would cover that noise.

Then he froze, not willing to take another step to let her hear him. Toph was sitting underneath the overhanging porch roof, a solid wall of rain before her while she and the guitar stayed dry. She pushed back her bangs and Sokka clearly saw her crying, tears running down her porcelain cheeks. The rain made a beautiful kaleidoscope pattern on her face, and he was struck with sudden sadness that she would never be able to see it. _Maybe that's another reason why she's crying_, he thought.

She reached down in her back pocket and fumbled around until she pulled out an old pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Sokka started, but he couldn't say he was surprised. But he'd never seen her smoke before. She pulled one out and placed it in her lips, and Sokka kind of freaked out when she started trying to light up, petrified that she would burn her fingers. She did for a moment, but instead of screaming like Katara would, she simply lowered her eyebrows and moved the flame. Girl had some crazy pain tolerance. Finally she managed to get the cigarette, and she took a deep drag, the little red glow lighting up her face for a moment. Then she exhaled, smoke streaming from her lips.

She smoked for a while, very careful not to even touch Sokka's guitar during it. Her face stayed blank and expressionless, but the tears kept falling. It was like she was afraid to show emotions, even to herself. She kept rubbing at her eyes, making her nose ring move a little. The smoke was almost the same color as her eyes.

Finally she got to a little stub, and she took the last drag and then flicked the cigarette out into the pouring rain. Then she picked up the guitar, letting her fingers move around on the strings. She tried out several different chords, like she was deciding what to play. Then, eventually, she settled on a chord and began strumming, a soft, sad song that Sokka recognized from the first words.

"Stranger than your sympathy – and this is my apology…"

Sokka almost had to stop himself from singing too, but the words were so perfect coming from her, the way her low, soft voice had just the right level of anger, bitterness and shame.

"I'm killin' myself from the inside out…and all my fears have pushed you out…" Her voice was so, so sad. "I wished for things that I don't need…all I wanted…and what I chase won't set me free…all I wanted…and I get scared but I'm not crawling on my knees…"

Her voice had steadied, her bangs covering her eyes, somehow losing herself in the words.

"Everything's all wrong, yeah…where the _hell_ did I think I was?... and stranger than your sympathy, take these things so I don't feel…I'm killin' myself from the inside out…and now my head's been filled with doubt."

"We're taught to lead the life you choose – all I wanted…"

_All I wanted was for you guys to love me for who I was. The real me. To see me as more than a blind…liability to the company. A freak. Someone who needed to be taken care of._

"You know your love's run out on you – all I wanted…"

_And it's gonna happen again, you know it is. These people, Aang and Katara and Sokka, they're gonna see it too. That there's nothing more to you than some angry, blind girl with an addictive personality who should be institutionalized. They're gonna see it. And then you'll be out in the rain again. So get used to it._

"And you can't see when all your dreams aren't coming true…"

_Fuck yeah all my dreams aren't coming true. I've been fighting, I've been clawing my way out this whole damn time, but it never works out for the ugly girl, it only ever works out for girls like Katara, she's gonna get Aang in the end and we all fucking know it, but who's gonna put up with me? Sokka just fucked me cause he was drunk and I have big tits, but there's no way he wants to stick around to deal with the crazy. It's better to just pretend it never even happened. At least I won't die a virgin._

"It's easy to forget, yeah…when you choke on the regrets, yeah…who the _hell_ did I think I was?!"

Her voice suddenly cracked with anger and frustration, and Sokka almost stepped forward to comfort her, but the moment was too personal, he would ruin everything if he intruded.

"And stranger than your sympathy…and all these thoughts you stole from me…and I'm not sure where I belong, where no where's home and no more wrong."

Finally the tears came tumbling, and she couldn't hold it in any longer, and her strumming began shaky and sad, but she kept playing.

"And I was in love with things to make you believe I was…and I wouldn't be the one to kneel before the dreams I wanted…and all the dark and all the lies were all the empty things disguised as me…"

Her voice faded as she hit the final chords, but she couldn't finish the song, just hung her head and cried. But Sokka was suddenly too scared to go and comfort her. Would she lash out at him for witnessing her personal moment? Did she even need him? Why wouldn't she talk about the time that they had sex? Did she even _want_ him? Did she realize how much it was hurting him that they refused to talk about it?

Quicker than he imagined, Toph got herself together and stood up, wiping tears out of her eyes. Then she slowly walked to the door and Sokka dashed back inside to receive his guitar, and continue the lie that he didn't know how much this girl was going through. The lie that he didn't think of her when he went to bed at night and wish for some sort of resolution to the longing in his heart.

* * *

**Howdy friends! Hope you enjoyed! I know the time of updating is a little weird, but it was the only time I had today. I've been planning this scene for a while, so I hope you liked it :) the idea of the LotR scene ('and my axe!') is totally from D3stiny-Sm4sher, I can't even lie about that haha. I just tweaked it a little. The song is Sympathy by Goo Goo Dolls :)**

**Also, good/bad news: Now that I have a real people job, I have enough money to go to Cali/New York to visit brother/Boyfriend respectively! So the great news is that I'm getting laid next week (with Boyfriend, obvi). Bad news is, sex does not leave much time for updating. I should be back in a week and a half, and hopefully I'll have time to write on the long fucking plane ride I'm taking from LA to NY, but no promises. So, please accept my apology. I hope that you all have delicious Valentine's Days, and if you do not have a significant other, than Rule 34 some Zuko and take care of your own business ;) Besitos - PVB**

**PS: Props to MELONLORD for being the _only fucking person _to get U2 for the last chapter title. I give you dozens of wet Toph kisses a la 'The Serpent's Pass' :)  
**


	18. Delinquency

**I'm baaaaaack! Unfortunately, things have been complicated since I left. What was supposed to be my week-long sexcation with Long-Distance Boyfriend, for various and sundry reasons, was the biggest cockblock of my life, and I did not have sex AT FUCKING ALL, which means I am even more sexually frustrated than I was before I left. And, because I'm a meanie-pants author, I will be taking my sexual frustration out on my characters. Please enjoy the carnage.**

**Chapter Eighteen – Delinquency**

* * *

"So when's your dad coming?" I asked Sokka.

"Should be anytime now," he replied, hefting up the grocery bags in his arms. "We got a long drive back to the Water District."

"It's gonna be really quiet around the house with just me and Grandfather and Toph," I said, thinking about the upcoming Christmas break.

"Dude, it'll be fine. I'm just glad it won't be Toph and Katara alone."

"Why's that?" I said, as we opened the door and entered the kitchen.

"They're like, complete opposite human beings," Sokka said. He began unloading groceries and raised his eyebrows at me. "There's no way that can be a functional relationship. They are way too different."

"Oh, thank you, boys!" Grandfather said with a smile. "This will keep Aang, Toph and I fed while you are back home."

"No problem, Grandpa," I said.

"By the way, were you talking about the girls, Sokka?"

"Yeah."

"I don't think you'll have a problem there," Grandfather said, a strange twinkle in his eye. Sokka and I looked at each other and suddenly heard the sounds of music coming from the back wing.

"Don't worry about this, I'll unload the rest," Grandfather said.

Sokka and I looked at each other, shrugged, and walked back to our wing of the house. Heavy guitar chords pumped out from the girls' room.

Sokka pushed open the door and we saw one of the funniest sights in the world – Toph and Katara jumping up and down on the bed, blasting Van Halen's 'Jump' and screaming along.

"Might as well _jump_!" They yelled. "Go ahead and _jump_!" Katara's hair flew up and down and she had a carefree look in her face that I hadn't seen in a while. Toph was still wearing her pajamas and playing the air guitar along with the song.

"Might as well jump! Hey, you! Who said that? Baby, how you been?" It was hilarious to see them together, clearly having the time of their lives, and especially since Katara had been so uptight these last few weeks with finals and Toph had been depressed about spending her first Christmas away from home.

"Might as well _jump_!" Katara finally saw us and beckoned us to come jump on the bed with them.

"Oh, no way," Sokka said, but I grinned and clambered on with them.

Katara held my hand and we jumped up and down. "I haven't done this since I was a kid!" I yelled over the music.

"Me neither!" Katara said, laughter in her voice.

"You've got to _roooll_ with the punches to get to what's real!" Toph sang out.

"Might as well JUMP!" I heard the mattress springs whining and couldn't stop laughing.

"Okay, time for guitar solo – " Toph said, and began shredding on her air guitar, all of her black hair falling over her face. Sokka shook his head, but he had a really happy smile on her face.

"Come on, Snoozles, I can practically hear you smiling over there!" Toph called out.

Sokka rolled his eyes and finally got up on the bed. I really thought the bed was going to break, but we jumped and jumped until the end of the song, when we all collapsed on the bed, laughing.

"That was _awesome_," Katara said, out of breath.

The sounds of 'Jump Around' came on, and Toph pushed herself up and stumbled over to the iPod. "That's too much jumping for now."

Katara just couldn't stop giggling. "Toph, I can't believe we just did that. We used to do that with our mother."

"Song and I did this all the time when we were kids. Know what the best part was?"

"What? Toph – what are you – I swear to God – Toph, _don't_ – "

"Belly flop!" Toph barked, jumping up and landing straight on Katara, who half-screamed, half-laughed.

"Jesus _Christ_, Toph, get off!"

"Come on, Madame Fussybritches, have a little fun! You've been such a stick in the mud since finals. Here, let me try – " And she stuck her hands right in Katara's armpits and started tickling. Katara let out an incredible high-pitched shriek.

"Toph, get the _fuck_ off! Aaah! St_op_ it!" Katara managed to find Toph's sensitive feet and started tickling, but Toph swore loudly and kicked out blindly, hitting Sokka right in the –

"HOLY FUCK!"

Sokka dropped to the floor, wheezing, as Toph sat up. "What, what happened? Who did I kick?"

"You kicked Sokka in the balls," I said, trying to stifle my laughter. Even Katara looked amused.

"Oh. Sorry, dude. Couldn't see. You know. Blind and all."

"Not…a good enough…excuse…" Sokka whispered, his hands clutched tight to his dick. Toph had an evil little smile.

"That was mean, Toph," Katara said, clearly only saying that because she was required to defend her brother.

"Okay. Sorry I punched your small dick, Sokka."

Sokka went bright red and said, "My dick isn't small – "

"Katara! Sokka! Your father is here."

"Daddy!" Katara squealed, jumping off the bed and sprinting into the living room. I helped Sokka to his feet, and he hobbled into the living room with a smile on his face. The rest of us followed, where we saw Katara completely enfolded in the arms of one of the hunkiest men I'd ever seen in my life. There was no longer any mystery about where Katara and Sokka got their looks.

"Sokka! My son!" Hakoda said with a smile. "Come here!"

"Hi, Dad," Sokka smiled. For a few moments the family was reunited perfectly, all of their unique coppery skin the same tone. Grandfather and I shared a look, and I briefly squeezed Toph's hand. Their family was imperfect, but it was still more complete than any of ours.

Finally they broke the hug, and Hakoda strode over to me with a smile. He had a very impressive beard and a whole lot of dark hair that hung longer than I would normally consider acceptable for a grown man, but on him, I really didn't care.

"Aang." I smiled and held out my hand to shake it, but he pulled me into a bro hug and slapped my back so hard I lost breath. "I'm Hakoda Hatori. I am honored to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Hatori," I gasped.

"Oh, please, call me Hakoda. I can't thank you enough for all you and your grandfather have done for my children. I have to tell you, Aang," he shook his head, "high school has been rough for Katara and Sokka. Their mother died when they were young, and they've had a hard time making friends. Sokka at least had his sports, but since Katara was always so quiet, and into her paintings, well, she never really had many friends – "

"_Dad_," Katara murmured, her whole face red.

"Anyway," he said, quickly seeing his daughter's discomfort, "and since I'm in the army, they've lived with their grandmother for years. When we sent them to Four Nations, I thought it would be another year of worry for me. But when they met you – suddenly talking to them on the phone was fun, as they had new stories to tell me about how the group of you were taking down the Fire District. And to offer them a home after that horrific fire…well, I will always be in your debt."

"It's not a big deal, really," I said, my own face red now, "I mean, they're my friends, that's all it is – "

"Friendship is nothing to scoff at," he said with a smile, before turning to Toph. "Hello, Toph! I'm Hakoda. It's a pleasure to meet you."

There was a pause where he tried to figure out the politically correct way to shake a blind girl's hand, but Toph loved awkward moments almost more than good music, so she smiled and let him suffer for a moment before finally sticking out her hand, which made Hakoda almost visibly sigh in relief. "Pleasure to meet you too, Hakoda. You raised some pretty good kids."

"Thank you! I like to think so. Ready to go, kids?"

"Lemme get my stuff," Sokka said, and they both ran down the hall to get their bags. Hakoda turned to my grandfather and shook his hand. "Really, Gyatso, I can't thank you enough for taking the kids in. You've really helped out our family."

"They're a pleasure to have," Grandfather said. "No trouble at all. Really, having this many teenagers in a house is delightful."

There was a pause. "Really?" Hakoda said.

Katara and Sokka came out, both ecstatic and holding suitcases. "Ready to go, Dad! Finally get to see Gran-Gran!"

"I'll go get the car warmed up while you say goodbye. I'll be back in a few weeks to drop them off!" He waved to us and went outside. Immediately, Katara threw her arms around me and gave me a big hug.

"Have a good break, Aang!" she murmured.

"You too, girl," I said, squeezing as tightly as I could.

She let go and smiled, and to cover my embarrassment I turned and gave Sokka an overly manly handshake. "See you soon, bro."

"Sure, dude," he said, sniggering a little. Toph was getting hugged by Katara, though at least she looked almost as uncomfortable as I did. Sokka turned to Toph and gave her one of the most awkward hugs I'd ever seen. Katara and I shared a glance and wondered, not for the first time, what had happened between them at the party.

But then the siblings hugged Grandfather and were out the door, leaving Toph, Grandfather and I alone for two weeks.

"Alright, kids, I know we're going to miss them," Grandfather said, clapping his hands, "but to make it up, let's go to the store. Aang can buy as many veggies as he wants and Toph can buy as much meat and chocolate as she wants, and we'll have a good time with just the three of us."

We whooped and headed out to the car.

It ended up being a ridiculously fun Christmas break. We lounged around the house – Grandfather read, Toph played the guitar, and I played Wii like it was my job. Eventually Toph started teaching me some guitar, and even though my fingers could reach the chords better than her little hands could, I still couldn't get the same sound like she could.

"You're not feeling it, dude," she said one night. We were chilling in her room, Appa snoozing on the bed. One of the best things about hanging out with Toph was that normal standards of appropriate dress didn't apply to her, so I was wearing just boxers and tube socks. She had no idea. "Guitar isn't like other instruments. You can play the flute or whatever with no emotion and it sounds just fine. You can't with guitar. You think about all the great guitarists – Edge, Harrison, Hendrix, Richards, Page, Clapton – they felt it, deep in them, way beneath their skin and their bones and their blood, _deep_. This instrument is meant to be sensual, it's meant to make you feel. You play it like a robot, it's gonna be a fucking disgrace. You find a song that really speaks to you, and then try playing it. Doesn't matter how shitty your playing is – it's gonna be better than you playing it like a technical master with no feeling."

I sighed. "So how do _you_ play it, O Great One? Where did you first learn how to _feel_ it?"

She rolled her milky eyes and pulled the guitar from me. Then she put it in her lap, formed her chords and began slowly strumming out a song. "Okay. You were how old when your parents died?"

I hated this question and didn't like where this conversation was going, but I said, "Eleven."

"Okay." I finally recognized the song – it was 'Let it Be'. "So I know you were living underground with Grandpa, but how did you deal with the pain? And the fear, and anger, and sadness?"

"Well…I guess I just got really into my studies. I got obsessed on getting all of the tests right, with Grandpa homeschooling me. I just had to get it all right."

"Okay. So that passion, that fury that pushed you into it?" I nodded. "That's what makes you do music. When I was around nine or so, I was a really fucked up little kid. I mean, I was blind and I didn't really understand why, my parents never seemed to care about me, all the relatives talked down to me, I had to go to special schools for blind kids and learn how to read Braille, I had really bad ADHD…I was a terror. I know it. Anyway, my mom and I were in a music store one day, I have no idea why, and I went into one of my tantrums and I knocked the peg off this old six-string Takamine. Well, my mom had to buy it, and I took it to my room and fixed it and started messing around, I loved it. They actually sell guitar books for blind kids, cause it's a touch instrument, so I taught myself. Took for-_fucking_-ever. Anyway, where you put that rage in your studies, I put it into music. It helped me to deal with it all. But my parents, cause they're dicks, they didn't like me playing. I don't know why, it made me calmer than I ever had in years, but anyway, they didn't like what I was getting into. The music and stuff. So they threw the guitar away. Their loss, though," she said with a smirk, "cause after that I got into _really_ shitty stuff."

I finally found the time to ask the question. "So what happened at the MMA party last year?"

"Oh. Yeah…You know. The usual. Got wasted, took a lot of drugs, slit my wrists. No big deal."

She said it with this disturbingly casual voice. I had no idea what to say. "Uh…haha. Good one."

"I'm serious, Aang."

"Oh. Shit."

"Yeah," she said with a chuckle, "_shit_."

Everything she said made sense, but it seemed like that wouldn't be enough to bring Toph down. "Like…a lot of drugs?"

"A _lot_ of drugs."

"Like, bad drugs?"

"I mean, yeah. At one point I was rolling on acid, coke, and DMT at the same time."

I had no real idea what she said. "Is that…bad?"

She chuckled again. "Yeah, sugar. It's pretty bad. I thought gnomes with knives were crawling up my ass."

"Oh. Jesus. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry. Not your fault."

I couldn't stop it. It just blurted out. "So what did you do with Sokka at the party?"

I waited for her reaction. But she just smiled, looked me in the eyes (or as close to my eyes as she could get), and said,

"Nothing."

* * *

Christmas morning dawned bright and early with the smell of bacon (Grandfather loved cooking for Toph). We all stumbled out, had some breakfast, and then went to open presents. The morning was spent in sweet camaraderie. All of us had pitched in to get Grandfather a beautiful leatherbound set of traditional Buddhist texts, like the Bhagavata and Buddhavacana – his set had burned with the house and we'd never replaced it. Katara and Sokka, their only money being our money, made us each homemade cards (with specific instructions to read and describe Toph's out loud to her). Toph gave me the Teen Titans boxed set I wanted, and Grandfather gave me a gorgeous painting for the blank space above my bed. But the best was when Toph opened the gigantic box, from Grandfather and I.

"Oh, my God…_Aang_…you're kidding…is this a guitar?" She said, her whole face lighting up as she ran her fingers over the wood.

"We thought it was time for you to have your own," Grandfather said with a smile.

She had been sad most of the morning because her parents had called her, but rather than wishing her merry Christmas they had tried to threaten her into coming home. But now she looked positively ecstatic. She jumped up, stumbled over the presents, and threw her arms around Grandfather.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She squealed.

Then she turned to me, looked awkward for a second, and punched me in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"That's how I show affection," she said with a smile.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out in front of the TV, playing board games, and indulging in a veggie-heavy Christmas dinner. Even Appa and Momo had some, since their presents were doggie biscuits and cat nip, respectively. Katara and Sokka both texted me saying thanks for their gifts, and Katara and I kept texting late into the night, until I was lying in front of the fire with Momo on my lap, in a semi-conscious food coma.

_So guess who's been texting me?_ Katara asked.

_Who?_

_Jet._

I frowned at the screen. _What the fuk does he want?_

_He says he's changed. He wants to vote for us now. Get his whole gang to vote for us._

_You think we should give him a chance?_

_Everyone deserves a second chance._

_Goddamn it, Katara_, I thought. She always had to be Mother Theresa. _What does Sokka say about this?_

There was a pause of a solid minute before she replied. _He's cool with it._

I smirked. He clearly was not cool with it. _Well, whatever. We can hear what he has to say when we come back._

_:) you're the best, Aang!_

I could already tell I was going to regret this.

* * *

After two weeks of delicious relaxation, it was time to go back to school. Hakoda dropped the kids off a few days before school, after which Katara briefed us about Jet and his sob story. Neither Sokka, Toph, nor I were convinced. But Katara had puppy dog eyes that could sway a serial killer, and she bribed Toph with bacon, so the Monday that we went back to school, the four of us headed over to Jet's area at lunch.

"Hey, Katara!" he said, jumping up. Just looking at him made my temperature rise. He still had that fucking unlit cigarette in his mouth.

"Hey, Jet," she said. At least she was slightly wary. "How have you been?"

"Oh, just fine, I – "

Sokka kneed him in the balls.

"Ooooohhhhh my fucking aaaaaAAAAAA – _what the fuck was that for?_" Jet moaned, from where he had fallen on the ground. His gang was now glaring at us murderously.

"For trying to rape my goddamn sister!" Sokka barked.

"Good one, Socks," Toph said.

"By the way, this is Toph."

"I hate all of you," Toph said by way of introduction.

"Sokka, that really wasn't necessary," Katara said.

"Nah, Katara, it's all good," Jet said, red in the face, as he slowly hauled himself to his feet. "I was a dick the last time we met. It's chill."

"See?" Sokka said.

"Look, I wanna make it up to you. I'm gonna vote for Aang for Prom King, and I think we can convince the rest of the gang to vote together too."

"Really?" I said, sitting down. My need for votes was overwhelming my hatred of Jet. "That's great, thanks."

"Not a problem," he said with that charming smile. Katara smiled –

No! Fuck! Stop it, Katara! She had that sparkly look in her eyes again. You're kidding me? He tried to rape her!

I was so distracted I didn't catch all of what he was saying –

" – this Saturday, love for you to be there – "

"Wait, what?" I snapped my head over. "What is this Saturday?"

"The game's on," Jet said. "All of us are gonna get together. Drink some beers. Nachos, that kinda stuff. You wanna come?"

"We're not going to another party!" I said immediately.

"It's not a party!" Jet said. "Just us hanging out. Get to know each other. And all of you are invited, so you can make sure there's no funny business."

I glared at him, then looked to Katara. There was no way she was going to say no. So I turned to Sokka and Toph.

Sokka curled his lip, but he said, "Football, beer, and nachos are three of my favorite things."

"I have to agree," Toph said. "Love me some football."

"Then it's settled then!" Jet said, grinning. "We got ourselves a get-together."

_Goddamn it_, I thought.

* * *

"Katara, that shirt is too low. Put something else on."

"Are you _kidding_ me? You're not Dad, Sokka!"

"We do not want this kid to have another reason to fuck with you!"

I looked over. While Katara's shirt had a perfectly normal amount of cleavage, I had to agree with Sokka. "Yeah, girl, that shirt makes you look like a slut."

"Aang!" She cried. "Aaagh!" She stormed back into her room, where Toph was sitting on the bed playing her guitar, already wearing a t-shirt, jeans and Converse.

"Guys, he's gonna hit on her no matter what," she chimed in.

"You don't even know him!" Katara said.

"You don't need to know a guy like that. Girl that looks like you, gonna be a dick magnet no matter what."

"_You don't even know what I look like_!"

"I'm banking on the fact that Aang probably wouldn't hit on an ugly girl. Or maybe he would, I don't know, but I doubt you're a charity case."

_Oy vey, Toph, stop talking_, I thought.

"Okay, Sokka, how about this?" she walked out in a basic white t-shirt.

"Nope," Sokka said, shaking his head. "Too tight. I can see your boobs."

"Well, suck it, Mr. Neanderthal, I'm wearing this. We're twenty minutes late anyway." She pulled her hair out of its ponytail and walked back to her room. Even wearing a t-shirt and jeans, she still looked too hot to believe.

"Katara, this is not a good idea," I said.

"Not listening," she said, rummaging through her jewelry.

"Yeah, dude, this is a worse idea than that time I tried to use a cucumber as a dildo," Toph said.

We all froze and turned to her. She continued strumming the guitar casually.

"_Why_ did you do that?" Katara asked.

"Oh, you know," Toph replied. "Kinda felt the same as a dildo. It had a weird reaction with the lube. Left my junk smelling like – "

"Katara, wear whatever you want," Sokka interrupted. "Let's just go."

I remembered Jet's house from the last time I'd been there, so we got there pretty quick. The driveway was packed with cars, but it was only Jet and his five bros in the house.

"You came! Great!" Jet said with a smile when he opened the door. He'd actually lit the cigarette, and the smoke made me instantly hate him about ten times more.

"Hey," Katara said as we entered. The house was dark and small, with the five of them spread out over mismatched couches and chairs. There was an oversized bowl of nachos on the table. Jet immediately went to the fridge.

"Beers, everyone?"

I shook my head, figuring it was good to stay sober tonight, but the other three nodded, and he came over with three cans of ice-cold Bud Light. Ugh. I couldn't even hate him for getting bad beer. For kids in high school, Bud Light was perfect.

And then, the best part, he didn't try to talk to us. We just chilled and watched the game – the local Bisons versus the Earth District Badgers. After a while, conversation started up naturally as we cheered. Katara drank her beer and giggled and didn't look too into Jet. I sat back and figured that right now, there was nothing to worry about.

At halftime we all stood up to stretch and get more nachos. "You live here by yourself?" I asked Jet.

"No, with Smellerbee and Longshot. The other three are in foster homes."

"Oh, jeez, man, I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "Hey, you know what's up. We don't have to pretend like everything's golden. We've both been fucked by the Fire District. You sure you don't want a beer?"

Ugh, he was being so nice. "Yeah, why not."

He smiled and handed a Bud Light. It tasted cold and delicious. I made a mental note to stop drinking so much.

We went to sit back down on the couch, where Sokka, Toph and Smellerbee were sitting together, watching whatever skanky girl they'd gotten to do the half-time show.

"She's decent," Sokka said, sipping his beer. "I mean, I've seen hotter."

Smellerbee shrugged.

"Well, come on, man, you saw when what's-her-face, Katy Perry did it that other time? I mean, she's annoying as hell, but she's hot." When he still got no reaction, he said, "Well, who's your celebrity ten?"

Jet sniggered, and Smellerbee said in a low voice, "Fucking Bradley Cooper."

"Oh." Sokka said. "Okay. Well, I guess, if you roll that way, he's pretty hot – "

"I'm a girl, dipshit."

Both Sokka and I twisted our heads around. Through a mess of auburn hair, a ridiculously flat chest beneath a t-shirt, and combat boots, it was hard to tell. But I guess there were some cheekbones in there.

"Oh, shit," Sokka said, his whole face flushed. "I'm sorry, bro – I mean, girl – I just – "

"Nice going," Toph said with a grin.

"Well, did you know she was a girl?" Sokka said.

"Sure. Could tell by her voice."

"You couldn't tell just by seeing her?" The one called Pipsqueak said, sitting down.

Now Toph's smirk faded. She turned to Pipsqueak and raised her bangs, showing her white eyes.

"Oh, shit," he muttered, "you're blind."

"And you've got a small penis."

"_What_?"

"I thought we were stating the obvious."

"Toph, be nice," Katara said, walking over to sit beside Jet. She was on her third beer and getting tipsy. "This is why we can't take you out in public."

Toph stuck out her tongue and then took a big drink of her beer. Katara leaned her head against the back of the couch and looked at Jet through her sleepy eyes. "So did you guys finish the backyard remodeling?"

"Yeah, we did," he said with a smile. "Got a hibachi grill and some lights and shit. We can go take a look at the next commercial break."

"I'd love to!" She said. Sokka and I met each other's eyes and immediately understood. At the next commercial break, when Katara and Jet went outside, I waited for a few minutes and then went to follow them.

But my path was blocked by Smellerbee, who materialized from the kitchen, holding an empty shotglass in her hand. She had a very prominent upper lip. "Dude, give them some privacy."

I didn't like the feel of this party. The darkness of the house, the talking of the football announcer – it was all making me feel claustrophobic and angry. "Uh, he's been kind of an ass to her in the past," I said.

"He's changed. He really likes Katara."

"What? Like, _like_ like?"

She jerked her head towards the window. I looked out and saw, by the light of several strands of Christmas lights, Jet and Katara wrapped around each other like eels. I only caught a sliver of her face, one closed eyelid with soft eyelashes, and her mouth caught in his.

The anger exploded like a bomb, fast and sudden. I turned on my heel and stormed into the living room, where Sokka sat straight up and said, "Well, what's – "

"She can do whatever the hell she wants," I snapped. I sat down and crossed my arms. "She's a grown ass girl and she can do whatever the hell she wants. It's not like we had a date planned or anything. She can do _whatever the hell she wants._"

The whole room fell silent. The announcers continued talking. My whole face was on fire, my heart slammed against my chest, I could hardly breathe, Toph and Sokka were looking at me like I was going to burst right out of my seat.

"Dude – " Sokka said.

"It's not like I've been there for her," I said. The words tumbled, red-hot, from my mouth. "It's not like I cleaned up her puke the last time she was over here. Not like I saved her from a burning building and then gave her a place to live. Not a big fucking deal. She can do whatever she wants." I looked over. "You know what? I can do whatever the hell I want too."

And I grabbed Toph and smashed my lips against hers.

Everyone jumped up and Toph pushed me away, yelling, "What the _fuck_, Aang?"

"Why not? You're cute, so am I. She can kiss whoever she wants, so can I."

"Aang, you are so fucking out of line it's not funny!" Sokka yelled, and there wasn't a trace of humor in his voice.

"This whole damn world is out of line!" I screamed back. Any filter I might have had was completely gone. "He gives her three beers and treats her like a slut and she'll kiss _him_, but I do my time and treat her like a lady and I don't get _shit_!"

"Don't you talk about my sister like that!" Sokka yelled, standing up now, his fists clenched.

"You're right, I can't talk about her like that, but I'll fucking tell her!" I jumped up and pushed through to the backyard before anyone could stop me.

Katara immediately jumped away from Jet when I walked out, her face bright red. "_Aang_! Aang, look, I'm – "

"I don't even give a shit!" I yelled at her. "You do whatever you want, it's okay. Just kiss this guy who tried to rape you just cause he gave you some beers. That's great, real classy, Katara."

"Dude, calm down," Jet said, "it was just a kiss."

"Are you having fun, Miss Heartbreaker?" I said to her, looking her right in the eyes. "Is this fun? Do you enjoy walking around with your devil horns and high heels on, stamping right on nice guys' hearts? Are you going to put this on your college application? 'Enjoys torturing men she places in the friendzone'?"

"Aang, calm down," she cried, and for a moment I was almost sad to see tears sparkling in her eyes. "Look, I'm sorry, I'm kinda tipsy, I don't really know – "

My vindictive attitude came back, crashing down over me like a tidal wave. "I am so over this, Katara! I am so over you and your perfection and the way you make me love you! _I am so fucking over –_ "

And suddenly I was cut off by police sirens from down the street, and a knock coming from the front door. "Open up, Jet!"

The three of us froze and ran inside. Everyone was on their feet, Pipsqueak and the Duke trying to stand in front of the alcohol. Jet took a deep breath and opened the door. He was thrown back by a punch –

And Ozai was standing in the doorway with a smile on his facial hair.

"Good evening, asswipes," he said calmly. "Thanks for the tip, Sneers, the Fire District thanks you. Well, the cops should be here in a few minutes, so it's all citations and criminal records for you, huh? Can't run for Prom King if the school finds out about underage drinking, now can you?"

For a moment we all hung suspended. My animosity drained from my body and I looked over to Sokka.

"Think fast," the two of us said at once.

Sokka grabbed the tray of nachos and threw it right into Ozai's face. I flicked the lights off and reached out, found Katara's hand, pulled her to the backyard, "Toph – "

"I got her, FUCKING RUN!" Sokka screamed.

I sprinted through the dark house, holding tight to Katara, and in the backyard I bent down, made my hands into a basket, she put her foot in and leapt over the fence. I jumped after her, my heart slamming, and Toph and Sokka came running, as the whole house descended into pandemonium, the other kids running in all different directions, Katara and I each grabbed one of Toph's hands and hauled her over, and Sokka took a running leap and catapulted himself over the fence, landing on his face. But we pulled him up and then took off running like our lives depended on it.

"Aang, you're most sober, you have to drive," Sokka gasped.

"I don't have my license!" I said.

"Doesn't fucking matter!" Katara nearly screamed. "We have to get out of here!"

We turned out of the street and found our car, which we'd been smart enough to park a block away. The four of us piled in, I started the car with shaking fingers, no time for seat belts, and then we were pulling away, the car screeched, the police sirens behind us –

"Take the back route!" Sokka yelled, his voice hysterical. "Through the neighborhood!"

I swerved, the car still kind of unfamiliar to me, and we peeled through the dark neighborhood, the headlights lighting up the sleepy houses as cats streaked out of our way. I couldn't hear the sirens and didn't see any lights, but I still didn't slow down until we pulled into the driveway at home.

The four of us sprinted into the house, locked the doors, and then as one ran into my room and huddled on the bed.

Grandfather came in his, his face shocked. "What are you all doing back so early?"

We couldn't even breathe. For a solid minute, our chests just heaved as the four of us tried to comprehend what had just happened. I looked at Katara and saw that her hurt over what I'd said was overwhelmed by her gratitude that, somehow, miraculously, we had gotten away again.

"If the cops come," I finally said, my voice ragged, "we were here all night, doing homework."

"_What_? Why would the police come?"

It took another moment, but finally Sokka said,

"It was a trap…Fire District tried to get us arrested…"

He finally smiled, a sloppy, exhausted smile.

"But we ain't got time for that shit."

* * *

**Wow...another chapter that did not turn out the way I originally thought. This story is going crazy haha. Also, let me address the flames/freak-outs I will probably get - this story is still a Kataang. This means that Katara and Aang will end up together in the end. I promise you this on my vagina/tortoises/student loans, whatever works. However, it would be a super boring story if they got together in the first chapter and stayed together for the rest of the story, right? We need drama, and excitement, and Jet being a douche! Also, another promise - I realize I kinda come off as a Katara hater in this chapter. Totally not the case. Will not make her this slutty/whatever for the rest of the story :) Alright, guys, thanks so much for reading! I missed you all in the week I was gone ;) NYC love - PVB**


	19. All In (Goodbye Gravity)

**Chapter Nineteen – All In (Goodbye Gravity)**

* * *

Ozai's golden eyes were so, so cold – like literal gold, the way that it glittered under display cases in jewelry stores. When the four of us arrived at school the Monday after the party, he was standing by the fence, arms crossed. Alone. Which was weird.

Immediately we all got on our guard, and there was silence in the cold air. He wasn't attacking, wasn't yelling. Just looking at us with a slight crease between his eyebrows.

Finally I said, "What happened to the other kids?"

Ozai contemplated me for a while and then said in a low voice,

"Most of them escaped. They got Pipsqueak and the Duke. Smellerbee, Jet and Longshot got away."

"And Sneers was your rat," Katara said.

He shrugged.

"How much did you pay him?" I said. This encounter was so strange, so calm. I didn't like how casual it was. Ozai was a tiger, and we had no idea when he could pounce.

"Couple hundred," he said. "I keep throwing challenges at you, but somehow you manage to slip away. It's pretty impressive, actually."

We all kind of looked at each other. "Thank you…?" Sokka said.

"So what are you trying to say?" Toph asked. "Is this the part where you apologize for killing Yue and all the other shit and we all make up and become best friends?"

This actually provoked a smile. "If only life were that simple. No, I'm not sorry I killed that girl. And I've come up with a new way to seal the nail in your Prom King coffin, using the one thing I have that none of you do."

He walked up and smiled at us. "Clout."

At first I didn't know what to say. Clout? How could he destroy my nomination for Prom King with clout?

But then his words suddenly sunk in, looking at his smug face. He was going to use his power as the son of the head Fire District general to destroy us. Oh, my God…the things he could probably get away with, just because of his _name_…

"Is this because of some deep psychological trauma?" Katara said. We all turned to her, where her sapphire eyes were narrowed. "There's no reason why you should hate us so much. Did the Air District do something to your family? Why are you so hell-bent on destroying us?"

Tension suddenly filled the air. Even knowing how unlikely it was, I leaned in for Ozai's answer. Maybe there was a reason –

But he just smiled and said, "You seen Batman, pretty peasant?"

Katara curled her lip, but still answered, "Yeah."

"Well, my dear," he said, still with that creepy smile, "Some men just want to watch the world burn."

And with that, he walked away.

* * *

That night was subdued. Somehow, anxiety over what Ozai was going to do, fear for the two kids in jail, and increasing hopelessness about my chances of actually winning Prom King had managed to combine into some sort of toxic slush that permeated the air and made it impossible for us to smile. Toph had slunk outside with Appa, her guitar, and the packet of cigarettes she'd been managing to hide from Katara. Sokka was actually doing homework, which was terrifying in and of itself. But what was more terrifying was that he was doing it to procrastinate from his college applications. The thought of him not being here next year was absolutely horrifying, and then the year after that Katara was going to graduate, and _oh my God_ –

Oh. Wait. I was supposed to be mad at Katara.

Grr.

I laid on my back in my bed with Momo and stared at the ceiling. I had to announce my candidacy for Prom King within the week, and for the first time I was actually considering not running this year. I mean, what would be the difference if I didn't? Why did it matter? I would be a shoe-in next year. Sure, I wouldn't have Sokka or Suki, but that's fine, I could get the rest of the student body. We could forget about all the shit from this year, about Yue dying, Katara and Sokka losing their house, Suki almost losing her scholarship, Toph losing her parents and her home…

The moon was gorgeous.

The moon. _Yue_.

She said I was going to do it. She said I was going to win. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands and groaned out loud. This year hadn't been all shit. The memories suddenly flashed – defending Katara when Ozai threw her painting to the ground; meeting Princess Yue in the lunch room; the long night with Katara, falling in love with her as she threw up from Jet's party; Suki defending us from the Water District boys; the look of pure joy on Sokka's face when he took Yue to Homecoming; _when Yue won Homecoming Queen_; the seductive look in Meng's eyes when she kissed me; playing 'Hide and Seek' at Yue's funeral; the first time we ever saw Toph; the three of us screaming at Sokka's lacrosse game, and the feel of Katara's hand in mine when we ran through the fire; the madness that was Toph's party, kissing Katara in that random back room and then sleeping shirtless with her on the couch; watching Suki fight for her pride; playing with soap bubbles with Katara, and then seeing Toph and Sokka singing Train together; taking in Toph when she stood dripping on our front porch; the four of us on the bed, singing about jumping in the face of adversity; and finally, the first time I saw Katara, the way that those eyes enchanted me, with her hair like a waterfall and her beauty-queen smile. Her loving touch and soft lips and the way that she made me feel stronger than I ever had before. I was mad and confused with her, but God, did I love her. And this year had been shit, but I had also had more adventures, more challenges, and more friends than I ever had before. And somehow, the thought that no matter what was going on, we were able to jump on a bed and sing, made everything seem like small potatoes.

This introspection in the moonlight dulled my anger, so when Katara walked in with a plaintive look on my face, I didn't immediately snap at her like I'd been for the past couple of days.

I smiled and said, "Hey."

"Hey," she replied, relieved that I didn't seem to be testy with her for once. When I didn't say anything else, she walked over and climbed into bed, lying down on her back beside me. We both stared at the moon through my window. Our bodies were an inch apart, and I could feel the warmth from her copper skin.

"Hi Yue," she whispered. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"She's been helping me figure some stuff out."

"Yeah?"

I turned to look at her, and she turned her head in response. The moonlight gave her eyes a white sheen, but I could still see the blue.

"Why did you kiss Jet?" I asked.

She took a deep breath through her nose and then answered, "Cause I was tipsy, and he's cute. And maybe I was attracted to the whole bad-boy thing he's got going on."

"Didn't you think about how that would hurt me?"

She closed her eyes. "I didn't. I'm sorry, Aang."

I exhaled and looked up at the ceiling. Momo padded over and pawed on my stomach, and I reached over to pet him.

"You have to know how I feel about you," I finally said.

She opened her eyes and turned on her side, placing one hand beneath her cheek. There were tears in her eyes.

"You have to know," I said, my voice pleading. "You have to be able to see it."

She nodded slowly.

"Katara…I…" I was trying so desperately to not sound like a pussy, but God, the sight of her on my bed, wearing just her night shirt, hair loose around her shoulders, those eyes looking right through all my fake bravado, "Katara, I love you. You're the one. It's you. I know we're young, but I know it, I really do. I love you."

"I know, Aang. I love you too."

"_What_?" I said. Not really what I was expecting to hear.

She rolled over onto her back and placed a hand over her eyes. "Look, Aang…my father wasn't kidding when he said I didn't have many friends when I was younger. Actually, he kind of was kidding, because the truth is, I didn't have _any_ friends. Just Sokka. After Mom died…it was kind of hard to trust. Other kids thought I was weird. I didn't really talk. And freshman year was more of the same.

"But then you came along," she said, looking at me out of one eye. "And everything changed. I had this friend who would do anything for me…and you have, and I'm so grateful…and I really do believe you're gonna win Prom King, and I want to be right there with you. I mean…you hurt me, too, when you kissed Meng at Homecoming. I didn't think…and then Toph told me you kissed her, when you were angry…maybe it's wrong of me, but I was hurt too. Aang, I would do anything for you…I haven't gotten a chance to prove it, but I would. So…I love you too. But I just don't know…what kind of love that is."

The blood in my veins settled down. For one long moment, it felt like the world had simply slowed, and gravity had increased just enough to weigh me down to this big, spinning earth we were all connected to. I stayed still. I didn't know what to say to her. I didn't know what to say at all. Words suddenly seemed so useless.

But, as usual, Katara mended that.

"But I will never regret kissing you," she whispered. Her fingers reached out to find my hand, and she grasped tight. "I'm sorry about Jet. I'll try never to hurt you like that."

Gravity suddenly lessened its death grip on my chest.

"And no matter what," she said, "no matter how I…_feel_ about you, I'm not leaving. I'm not going anywhere. I'm gonna be there when you win Prom King, and I'll be there when Ozai beats the shit out of all of us and I won't run away. And even when I have to move out and go to college, before I leave, I'll give you my heart and let you take as big of a piece as you want. I'll sign it 'Love From Katara', and you can take it with you wherever you go, and when somebody asks me why I can't love them all the way, I'll smile and say that the rest of my heart is with an incredible man named Aang, who I believe can save the world."

When I turned to look at her watery, sparkly eyes, the stains on her cheek glistening in the moonlight, the way she smiled at me…

There was no such thing as gravity.

* * *

That next Monday, the whole school waited with bated breath as the four of us walked onto campus. Toph stared defiantly ahead; Sokka clutched his lax stick tight; and Katara felt the need to squeeze my hand every few minutes. We walked past a whole school of whispering students on our way to the principal's office. Haru and Meng gave us thumbs-up; Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot stood and nodded at us. Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors stood in full dress as we approached the final walk to the principal's office, and they escorted us past Ozai, Azula and the Fire District kids, who stared us down. I had no doubt that they would both make good on their promises to kill me for doing this. But there were too many people counting on me. And there was no way I was backing out now.

Principal Pathik smiled at me when I approached. Everyone in the school knew what I was doing, but the formality was necessary.

"Yes?"

I took a deep breath and said,

"My name is Aang Nomad, and I'd like to announce my candidacy for Prom King."

Katara squeezed my hand.

We were officially in for the ass-kicking of our lives.

* * *

**Aaaaahhhh so many feels! Kind of an introspective chapter for y'all. This story is much longer and much more popular than I ever could have imagined (for which I'm so grateful), so I kind of took a minute to breathe and see where we've been and where we're going. Also, cause I'm sick of Kataang tension. Shit picks up from here on out. Next chapter - da fuq is up with Toph and Sokka? Only one way to find out...Love you! - PVB**


	20. Meltdown

**Because my little brother has made me super paranoid about getting arrested for plagiarism…I do NOT own Avatar or any of the characters. They all belong to Bryke, Nick, and whatever other geniuses brought these characters to life. Now enjoy the chapter :)**

**Chapter Twenty – Meltdown**

* * *

"Hey, Katara."

Funny how two little words made the entire car lean in and listen.

Katara looked out of her eye at me from the passenger seat and said, "Yes, Aang?"

"Would you like to go out with me sometime this week?"

Sokka and Toph immediately started "Ooooooh"ing at me. Toph even went so far as to punch me in the arm.

"Was it necessary to ask this in the car?" Katara asked with an amused voice.

"I figured we should get the teasing out of the way now."

"Good point."

"Well, it's not going to be terribly romantic if the lady is the one who has to drive," Toph sneered.

Ouch. Good point.

"Don't worry, Aang," Katara said, bestowing one of her winning smiled on me. "I don't mind driving. What do you have in mind?"

"Lots of fun stuff."

"I will be calling every ten minutes to do hand checks!" Sokka snapped. "If I hear that anything…inappropriate is going on, I will personally castrate you with my lax stick!"

"Oh snap," Toph said.

"Don't worry, Sokka," I said. "I will treat your sister with nothing but respect. After all, I am an upright, law-abiding gentleman who would do nothing inappropriate, dangerous or fool-hardy."

We pulled up into our parking spot, where Suki was waiting with a smile. "Hey, Aang! Ready to engage in subversive, illegal warfare against an all-powerful dictatorship that compromises our finances, families and lives?"

There was a pause.

"What was that about being a 'law-abiding gentleman'?" Sokka said.

"Touché, Mr. Hatori. Touché."

Suki sat with us at lunch again, which always meant a lunchtime filled with inappropriateness and laughter. This was especially relevant that day since Toph had gone to work on convincing (read: beating up) the rest of the Earth District kids, and without her we would be facing forty-five minutes of Katara gossip. As we were swapping stories about different Fire District guys we'd beat up on throughout the year (my number was surprisingly high), a young girl came out to the lawn where we were eating lunch. She sat down on the grass and began to eat lunch all by herself, chewing her PB&J slowly.

Well, that didn't work for me.

"Hey!" I called to her. She snapped her head around and 'eep'ed when she saw us. "Do you wanna come sit with us?"

She blushed and after a second, stood up with her tray and came over to us. She had thick bangs and two chunks of hair hanging in front of her ears, the rest of it pulled up into a ponytail. She smiled at us with brown eyes and sat down shyly.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," I replied with a smile. "My name's Aang Nomad! These are my friends, Katara, her brother Sokka, and Suki."

"Hi," she said, "I'm Onjelina."

"_Huh_?" Suki said.

The girl gave a weary smile. "Like Angelina? My parents were ghetto. You can call me Onji if you want."

Then she looked at me, her eyebrows raised in shock. "You're Aang, who's running against Ozai."

"Yeah," I said. "Have you thought about who you're voting for for Prom King yet?"

"Uhh…" Onji took a big bite out of her sandwich, and after chewing said, "Yeah…I'm actually from the Fire District…"

"Oh," I said.

We all dropped into silence. Katara had her eyebrows raised, Sokka's mouth was slightly open, and Suki looked murderous.

"You don't have gold eyes," I said, not even really caring about propriety.

"Yeah, it's pretty rare, but some Fire kids don't have gold eyes. There's only one other person at school without them. I kinda got teased a lot when I was a kid."

She had such a young, pretty, kind face. I just couldn't associate her with the assholes I'd come to associate with her district.

"Well, just cause you're Fire District doesn't mean we can't be friends," I said. "We're good friends with Zuko Agni, and Mai and Ty Lee."

Katara, Sokka and Suki all nodded, as if suddenly remembering that we did, in fact, have Fire District friends.

"Oh, I love Ty Lee!" Onji said, finally breaking into a smile. "I'm on cheer with her. She's so nice. Is she voting for you?"

"Yeah, I think so. And, uh…" I took a deep breath. Nothing to lose, right? "I'd really appreciate it if you thought about voting for me. And maybe telling your friends too."

Onji looked scared, her big brown eyes fixed on my face. "Ozai…he kinda said he'd beat us up if we didn't…and my boyfriend…"

"Who you vote for isn't any of their business," I said firmly. "I'm trying to win without resorting to those methods. I want to win because people genuinely see that it would mean a lot to the school in really breaking the douchebaggery that Ozai has created, and we're trying to do it without violence."

"Except for Toph," Sokka muttered under his breath.

"I take no responsibility for how Toph convinces the Earth kids," I said quickly. "Toph is cray-cray. Anyway, Onji, I'm just asking you to think about it. I think that if I won it would really make an impact on the school, and I can't do it without the Fire District support."

Onji was slowly starting to smile. She took another bite out of her sandwich and did that girl-thing, where they look at you from under their eyelashes. I smiled back.

At that exact moment, I felt two red-hot laser beams pointing at the side of my head.

I took a peek over and saw Katara glaring murderously at me, her bottom lip curled up, blue eyes narrowed into slits.

What the - ?

Suddenly everything Katara had been saying, about how I'd hurt her by kissing Meng and Toph, made sense, and I felt a sense of empowerment that I'd never felt before. Katara was jealous! She didn't even want me smiling at this girl!

I was hot shit!

And then, because I'm an asshole, I entertained it for one moment and said,

"Onji, I really like your necklace."

"Oh, thanks! That's sweet of you."

I swear, an air raid siren went off, followed by footage of an atomic bomb explosion. I snuck another peek at Katara and found her sitting straight up, her expression contorted into an almost comedic look of rage.

But then she met my eyes and I suddenly understood that if I didn't stop, I was heading for an ass-kicking the likes of which would make Ozai quake. Homegirl was _not_ messing around. Even Suki and Sokka looked terrified of her icy blue eyes.

"Uh…I mean…I just…" I stammered.

But that was when a large, muscular, golden-eyed boy who was most definitely from the Fire District came up and bellowed, "Onji, there you are! Why aren't you sitting with me?"

"Cause you were being mean," she said, not meeting his eyes. It was the toughest I'd heard her voice sound.

"Yeah, well, you're done." He grabbed her hand and hauled her to her feet, throwing her plate to the ground with a clatter.

"Dude, chill out, she was just sitting with us," I said.

"You're being unnecessary." Even Katara had a frown on her face.

Suddenly the boy looked me in the eye and leaned over. "You're Aang. The kid running against Ozai."

"Nice to meet you," I grinned.

"Well, my name's Hide, and I'm going to be taking over after Ozai and Zuko graduate."

"Congratulations, you have to wait two years for anyone to give a shit about you," Sokka said.

Hide curled his lip and said, "You losers want an ass-kicking?"

Without getting up or stopping her nail-filing, Suki said calmly, "No, but if you take another step towards Aang, I will be forced to strip you and rip out your pubes one by one."

Hide blinked and looked towards Suki, who gave him one small wink before continuing to file her nails. Apparently the thought of excruciating pubic torture was enough to scare him, so he just made two fingers from his eyes to mine and pulled Onji away, who gave a small wave as she was led away.

"Ugh, just when we meet one nice Fire District kid, we meet another asswipe," Suki said.

"I don't know, maybe Onji will vote for us," Sokka said.

Katara stuck her nose up. "She was just a freshman. We can find better."

I looked at her, and she refused to meet my eye. When the bell rang and we all picked up our trays, I hung back as Katara was dumping her food in the trash. I tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned around, rolling her eyes.

"What _is_ it, Aang – "

I held her under the chin and gave her the deepest, most epic kiss I could muster.

When we pulled back, her eyes were still mad, but her reluctant blush told me all I needed to know.

"You're still my girl, hun," I said.

* * *

The end of the week came for Sokka just as it has since lacrosse season ended – he sprinted out of his sixth period Psych class and ran out to the car to wait for everyone else to get out of class so they could go home and play video games and forget about homework and college applications for a night. But it was always a subdued day, because Toph did her MMA tonight. She walked over, tapping her cane, and smiled at Sokka as she switched her school backpack for the gym bag that she brought. Then she clicked her tongue at him and sauntered off, her hips swinging. Sokka crossed his arms and decided it was time to finally get inside that stubborn head.

That night, as Aang was playing video games and Katara doing homework, nine o'clock came.

"Hey, guys," Sokka said, "I'm going to go pick Toph up from her match tonight."

"Oh," Katara said, looking up from her homework. "I guess there's no reason why not…I've always picked her up before though."

"It'll be fine, where do you usually go?"

"Right out front. I'd leave now, I'm petrified one of those guys is gonna kidnap her when she's on her way to the car."

"Kat, she's _fine_," Aang said, his eyes fixed on Mario Kart. "She's already proven she can kick all of their asses. I wouldn't go freaking out about her."

Katara sighed and rubbed her eyebrows. "Well, whatever."

"Alright, I'll be back soon." Sokka jumped up, grabbed his wallet and the Prius keys, and went out into the carport. The drive over to school was dark and silent. There was a big moon, which only made the attraction to Toph even weirder. But Yue would want him to be happy, right?

He left the car purring in front of the old abandoned gym, hoping Toph would hear the car and know it was him. After another ten minutes, the doors opened and people began streaming out, talking about the match. God, so much multicolored hair. Sokka locked the doors and tried not to make eye contact.

Eventually, Toph walked out. In the striking light from the parking lot lights, she looked really epic – her thick bangs obstructing her face, her nose ring glinting, all of her sweaty hair sticking to her neck. She had on her tank top and flip flops, a bag slung over her shoulder and her cane on her wrist. She was unwrapping the tape from her hands with an unaffected glance, walking forward without using her cane.

"Where you at, Sugar Queen?" she called out.

"Uh – here?"

She froze. "Sokka?"

"Yeah!"

He couldn't read her face. For a moment she looked incredibly happy, but then her eyebrows lowered. She walked over to the Prius and felt around until she reached the passenger side. The smell of sweat immediately filled the car, mixed with – was that Katara's perfume? Why was she wearing that?

"How'd it go?" he asked, beginning the drive.

"I won. Obvs."

"Congrats, homegirl."

"Thanks." She looked out the window, not making eye contact. Sokka loved the twist in her neck, the little wispy curls at the nape of her neck sticking to her pale skin. He had to know.

"So…how've things been going?"

"Uh…fine? I gotta somehow convince all the Earth kids to vote for Aang, but other than that, I'm truckin'."

"Oh, good. Cause you seem a little…distant lately."

"I haven't been distant. The four of us are fine."

"I mean…you've been distant with me."

Toph wrinkled her nose, but didn't deny it. Even though they were almost home already, Sokka turned and began driving through the neighborhood streets, desperate to keep her in the car.

"Toph, can we just – "

"Oh, _fuck_, you want to have 'the talk', don't you?"

"Uh, yeah, that'd be nice. Look, I know you're all sensitive about it being your first time, and I get that, but it was my first time too, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't treat it like it was the worst thing in the world to get screwed by me."

Toph's green-white eyes were staring straight ahead, her breath quickening.

"I mean, we haven't even told Aang and Katara, and we _live_ with them. Katara's my _sister_."

"Oh, fuck no. Can you imagine how awkward that would be?"

"More awkward than Katara and Aang's clusterfuck? I don't think so. They'd probably be happy if we were in a relationship."

"_We're not in a relationship_! We had a one-night stand, that's it!"

"Well, do you want there to be a relationship? Cause for a while there I thought you did, but now I'm not sure!"

He took another left turn in the neighborhood, their headlights the only light in the darkness. Toph's breath was coming very quickly, and she kept blinking. What was up with her tonight?

"Sokka, I just…I appreciate this…chivalry, whatever, you've got going on, but you don't have to feel obligated just cause you popped my cherry. We're fine where we're at, okay? Let's just leave it there."

"We're not fine, we have to walk on eggshells around each other and you avoid me at every turn! I mean, was it _that bad_? Do you regret it that much?"

She weighed her words for a while, clutching to her knees.

"It wouldn't work, Sokka," she finally said, her words heavy. "It's not gonna work, whether we want to or not. We just can't – "

"_You won't even give it a try_! Come on, girl, it's not like you're so far down that you can't come back up! Just cause you've got some shit, some scars, doesn't mean you can't learn to love! You're not broken, just…_bent_, and if you give me a chance, I can – "

"I DON'T NEED SAVING!" She screamed, her voice breaking.

Her words had the force of a punch to the gut. Both of them sat, stunned into silence, before Toph said,

"Stop driving around and take me home."

He stared at her, at the tears sparkling on the bottom of her eyes, and drove around the corner to the house. When he pulled into the driveway, she immediately jumped out, grabbing all of her stuff, and headed into the house without her cane, bumping her shins on everything.

"Toph?" Katara said, looking up from the kitchen table. "Are you – "

Toph stormed past her, down the hall and into her room, where she slammed the door to their room and locked it. After a minute, as the whole house held their breath, they heard a muffled scream, like she'd stuffed a pillow to her face and then screamed. And then – a series of soft punches, coupled with strange gasping sobs.

"Is she…?" Aang said.

"I think she's punching the pillows," Katara said.

Both of them turned to Sokka.

"What _happened_?" Katara asked.

Sokka threw his head back and ground the heels of his hands into his eyes.

_We just broke each other's hearts_, he thought.

* * *

"Toph! Toph, sweetie, open up!"

Panicked, frantic breaths. Her chest heaving like an animal. Toph pressed her face even farther into the tear-soaked pillow and tried to stop her own breathing.

"Baby, you've got to open up. It's just me! Come on, I just want to make sure you're okay."

_The fuck do you know, Katara? With the boys all after you. You've never sabotaged yourself, you've never felt killing yourself, what do you know?_

"Toph, sweetie…I'm really worried about you."

That made a crack in Toph's stonecold heart. She cared about her? She was worried about her? Toph knew it was true, had heard Katara's worry when she came home from matches with bruises on her, when she wasn't getting enough food, when she got homesick and lonely. Would it be such a bad thing to let Katara in?

"Toph…? Honey…?"

_It's her fucking brother! You just broke her brother's heart, because you are a HEARTLESS CUNT WHO DOESN'T DESERVE SUCH GOOD FRIENDS!_

And suddenly it hit Toph, like lightning in her veins. Oh, God, she knew what she needed. Oh, God, now that the idea was in her head, she couldn't get it out. Oh, God, this was happening.

She leapt off the bed and started rummaging on Katara's dresser.

"Toph?" Now Katara's voice had an edge of panic. "Hun? What are you doing?"

_Can't get ex, can't get weed, can't get acid, I'm not gonna smoke in Grandpa's house and Katara will never let me outside to do it…one thing left…come on, Tophie, you know what to do – _

_Fuck_ being blind! Her fingers frantically pushed aside various makeup and jewelry as she struggled to find the one thing she was looking for. Katara's voice was now calling through the house.

"Aang? Aang, come here – I need you to help me open this door – I don't know what Toph's doing, but it can't be good – "

Defiance welled up in her blood, and she only intensified her search. Oh, she'd show them. She'd show them how she felt. Then they'd have no choice but to kick her out. Better they realize what a shitshow she was now than later, after she'd become too attached.

Better to leave Sokka now, leave him heartbroken, before she fell even further in love with him.

_Impossible, you stupid bitch. You _love_ that boy._

She gave a strangled scream and started furiously moving things aside.

"_Toph_!" Katara cried. "Sweetie, what are you doing? Let us in!"

Yes! Finally! Toph triumphantly held up the pair of scissors, the blade gleaming in her mind's eye. She sat down on the bed and pulled off her pants.

No, wait, she and Katara shared the bed, couldn't do that. She plopped down on the cold tile floor. Much better. She opened the scissors and relished the sound of metal-on-metal.

"Toph?" It was Aang's voice. "Listen, we love you. We really do. Let us in."

Tears leaked out of her eyes.

She bared the scissors and sliced open the skin of her thigh, giving a strangled half-scream.

"TOPH!" Katara yelled. "Baby, what's wrong? What are you doing?"

"Do you think she's – "

"SOKKA! GET OVER HERE, WE HAVE TO OPEN THIS DOOR!"

She closed her eyes shut and did it again, skin on metal. A few tears leaked out now, her breath coming in sobs. She pressed her fingers down and felt her own hot blood.

"What, what's wrong?"

"Toph is – she's – I think – we need to open the door!"

Sokka started jiggling the handle. "Toph? Listen, I'm sorry. I didn't…you don't…you know what I mean. You don't. I didn't mean it, I'm sorry."

_I probably need saving now, tough guy. But it's not your job to fix me._

She sliced herself again, but somehow managed to intersect one of the previous cuts in the process (the problems with being a blind cutter). This time she really couldn't stop the scream.

"Toph!" Katara really sounded like she was crying. "Stop it, sweetie, please!"

"Give me your credit card, or something," Sokka said. "Quick."

Toph switched to the other leg, her emotions slowly getting buried deep within her bones, as her friends frantically attempted to open the door.

"Not working…god_damn_ it…"

"Does Grandfather have a key?"

"I'll go ask him."

"We can't call the fire department, they'd get her parents involved – "

"I think we might _have_ to, if she won't come out – "

_It's what you deserve. This is all that you deserve. They're too good for you. Maybe now, they'll leave you._

"He has a key, he's looking for it."

"Oh, thank God."

"What was in there?"

"Scissors, that's all, I think."

"But still – "

"Toph? Sweetie?" Katara called. "We're still here, baby. We're not leaving you. Grandpa's getting a key. We're gonna get there, don't worry."

_Why haven't they left? I don't get it. Why are they still here?_

The pain finally became too intense even for her, and she had to stop. She laid her feverish body down on the cool tile and closed her eyes. The swirls on the backs of her eyelids were so comforting. She remembered seeing…but it was such a long time ago. She remembered green fields, and badgers in the backyard. She remembered Song's face when they jumped together. She remembered green, and brown, and cream, the color of milk and ice cream. She remembered her own green eyes, big and scared, looking at herself in the mirror that last time, knowing that it was all about to fade away.

Now all she saw was black. The color of death, and despair, and hopelessness.

"Here it is, it's one of these – "

"Oh, thank God – "

"Hold on, baby, we're coming."

They knew, but they couldn't _know_. So she pulled herself up and managed to gingerly walk to the dresser, wiping the bloody scissors on her shirt before leaving them on the dresser. Then she pulled her sweatpants on over the cuts, hissing when it stung, and collapsed onto her side of the bed and pulled the curtains up to her chin.

Finally the door opened, and she heard four sets of feet come barging in, only to stop.

"Toph?" Katara said.

She said nothing. Just made a strange moan/whimper.

Katara's maternal instincts went off like a bell. "You three, out."

"What – "

"NOW."

"Right, yes ma'am," Aang said quickly, as the three men quickly beatfeet out of the room. Toph heard the click of the lights turning off and some shifting as Katara changed clothes, her curiosity piquing.

Then Katara gently crawled into bed and got under the covers too. For a moment the two of them hung suspended, and Toph realized just how good it was to have another human being's warmth next to her.

It happened slowly, all at once. Katara moved closer and repositioned her arms. Toph slowly came out of her clenched ball and turned over to Katara's side. Both girls realized at once that the other was crying.

Finally, Katara enfolded Toph in her arms, where she breathed deeply and cried quietly and let the older girl stroke her back and rub circles in her tense shoulders. Katara pulled the elastic out of Toph's hair, causing only the smallest of snags, and then gently began pulling her fingers through the tangled mess. Toph closed her eyes on Katara's skin, relishing her sweet smell of poppies and clean sea breezes, and thought that maybe Katara did know. Maybe she did understand what this felt like.

They hadn't left. They'd stayed right there. How was that possible? They knew, and they didn't leave.

Suddenly, Toph didn't want to know why. She didn't want to analyze the situation to death, like she did for everything. All that mattered was that at this moment, she was in the arms of someone who loved her.

She let herself drift into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

**Yay for chapters that should have turned out really sad but actually didn't! Pretty much the complete opposite of what usually happens in my stories…Anyway, hope you all enjoyed! Next chapter: I will FINALLY stop trolling and write the stupid Kataang date we've been waiting for for like five chapters. Also, Zuko/Azula/Mai/Ty Lee feels. YEEAAAHHHH BOOOIIIII.**

**Also, update: for some strange reason, even though there were a grand total of eight cuss words in the last chapter, which is far less than I say in a usual spoken sentence, I got a disproportionate amount of flames about the cussing in this story. And although this pains me (and trust me, it pains me – I am a drummer who has been using the word 'fuck' casually since I was eight), I have tried to tone down the cussing in this story and only use it appropriately. Uuugh. (Toph's still gonna cuss like a sailor - #i'mnotsorry) Last Prom King is attempting to go R instead of NC-17. That's how much I love you guys. Now please review. I'll be in my room crying and cussing since I can't do it here ;) - PVB**


	21. Speak Truth to Power

**Hey guys! Sooo sorry for the late update. This week has been all kinds of sloppy; a relapse, my laptop crashing, drunken antics, and losing my debit card at the bar (Jaegerbombs are dangerous – you have been warned). Fortunately, everything's gonna be okay: computer was fully backed up (including brainstormings for future chapters of LPK), debit card assets are frozen, I didn't lose any money, and I'm back on the wagon. And even though I'm writing this on my brother's desktop through a blinding hangover, the story WILL go on! Enjoy…**

**Chapter Twenty-One: Speak Truth to Power**

* * *

"Aang, no, I am _not_ – "

"You look great! You don't even know where we're going!"

"Why the _hell_ did you buy me heels?"

"They look good! Stop asking questions!"

Sokka sat in the corner, theatrically smoking a pipe and giving me the stink eye, while Toph had bounced into the giant pile of clothes that Katara had thrown on the floor getting ready, and was now burrowing and giggling. Her little black head would pop up every so often, only to duck down again.

A bright pink blush hadn't left Katara's cheeks since I presented her with the shoes fifteen minutes ago. She turned her ankles in the mirror, looking at the low biege heels (Toph had informed me that they were called 'Mary Janes', with the strap in front, but since neither of us wanted to admit any knowledge of the subject, I hadn't pursued).

"Aang…I really…you didn't have to buy me _shoes_…"

"Will you stop being shy and just come with me? We're gonna miss our reservation!"

She looked up at me, her lips turned inward into a silly little smile. "Will you pretty please tell me where we're going?"

I shook my head, all smiles. "Absolutely not. I did research with your brother to find the one place in town that you don't know about, since you will be driving."

"You will have fun," Sokka said, sounding thoroughly disgruntled about the prospect.

"Okay," she giggled. "But you two need to leave, I need a sidebar with Toph."

"Eep?" Toph said, poking her head out of the pile.

"Sokka, isn't this the part where you take Aang outside and threaten him with death?"

"Oh! Yeah! Come on, whippersnapper."

He grabbed my hand and pulled me outside into the hall. We heard a chorus of giggles before the door closed and Sokka looked down at me with his arms crossed.

"Alright. Just because I approve of the venue, does not mean I approve of whatever will happen after the venue. At eleven on the dot, I will be texting you every five minutes. If Katara is not home by eleven thirty, Toph has sworn to kick your balls so hard they regress inward. Also, I will personally be sitting outside the girl's bedroom all night, just in case you were thinking of trying any funny business."

Holy fuck. It was like dating the President's daughter.

"Uhh…yessir?"

"Correct." Sokka nodded, and then finally a small smile crept onto his face.

"Dude, I'm gonna take such good care of her."

"I know, airboy. Why do you think I'm letting her go?"

"Alright, I'm ready!"

Katara appeared in the doorway, gently leaning aginst the jamb like an angel. She'd apparently changed outfits for the fiftieth time, and was wearing her short gray skirt with a blousy blue top and her mother's necklace, her hair pulled into two loops from her forehead. She'd kept the shoes, and was smiling at me through her mascara-tipped lashes with just the right amount of excitement. Toph was grinning behind her like an evil genius.

I held out my arm. "M'lady?"

She giggled and took my arm, swinging her purse over her shoulder. "Okay, we'll be – "

"Wait!" Grandfather came running into the room in his slippers, Appa running behind him and barking. "I need pictures!"

"_Grandpa_…" we both sighed.

"I'm old, let me do it," he said. "Now, the two of you, come on."

Suddenly, easily, Katara sighed and leaned her head into my chest. I turned towards Grandfather and gave the biggest grin of my life.

"Okay, now the four of you."

Sokka and Toph immediately pushed their way in between us, cackling loudly. "Yeah, that's right, cockblocking so hard," Toph said.

"What does that mean?" Grandfather said.

"Ohh…uhh…just take the picture."

The four of us grinned at the camera, even though Toph and Sokka were wearing their pajamas and I hadn't seen Toph put on a bra all day. Finally I managed to pull Katara to the car, yelling, "Bye, guys!"

"Home by eleven-thirty!" Sokka yelled.

"Take lots of pictures!" Grandfather said.

"CONDOMS!" Toph barked before someone slapped a hand over her mouth.

We finally escaped into the Prius, and neither of us realized how hard we were laughing.

"Oh, my God, could our family be any more embarrassing?" I said.

"I don't think so," Katara said, as she put the key in the ignition. "I love it so much."

"Alrighty, I'm gonna be giving you the directions, and you are not allowed to ask questions. We should be there in fifteen minutes."

Katara rolled her eyes and pulled out of the driveway, driving off into the early sunset. I turned on the radio and immediately Carly Rae Jepsen filled the car.

"I threw a wish in the well, don't ask me, I'll never tell – "

"Oh, God, I hate this song," Katara said.

"What? I thought you'd be all about Carly Rae!"

"Yeah, like two months ago, now I'm like, shut _up_. Plus, she's Canadian."

"Racist. But here's my number, so call me maybe – "

"Aang, stop singing."

"You took your time with the call, I took no time with the fall – "

"Aang. Oh, my God."

"Your stare was holding, ripped jeans, skin was showing, hot night, wind was blowing – where you think you're going, baby?"

"Away from you."

"Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy – but here's my number, so call me maybe?"

A reluctant smile was pushing its way onto her lips.

"I'll stop singing if you sing."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"It's hard to look right – at you, baaaby – come on, Katara, it'll be over quicker – "

"And all the other boys," she sang, giggling slightly, "try to chaase me…but here's my number, so call me maybe?"

"_Yes_!"

The song faded away, only to be replaced by more Carly Rae Jepsen - "Cause it's always a good time!"

"Seriously?" Katara said. "This is ridiculous. She's not even that pretty."

"Compared to you, no one is."

She giggled, and for the first time, didn't try to tell me she wasn't that pretty. I smiled, thinking that she might actually agree with me that she was the most beautiful girl in the world.

"Have you talked to Toph?" I asked.

"She seems to be doing better. She's actually letting me…you know, take care of the cuts. Put neosporin on, wrap them up. They shouldn't scar too bad."

I shook my head. "And Sokka?"

"He's beating himself up, obviously. But I think he's giving her space. I don't know what they talked about, but apparently it triggered something."

"Has she told you about all the drugs she's done?"

Katara frowned as she made a right turn. "Makes sense. She ran with a rough crowd. She's been clean since, though?"

"Well, she smokes cigarettes when you're not looking."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Oh, that bitch is getting her ass kicked when I get home."

"She'll be fine tonight. Grandpa made ribs for her and Sokka. Tonight, it's just you and me."

Katara smiled and then said, "Shouldn't we be getting close?"

"Yeah, make the next left."

We turned onto the street and immediately the road was illuminated by a brightly lit building, with a sign saying 'Shall We Dance?' and a picture of a couple dancing. Katara's mouth gaped open and she looked at me.

"Aang…? What is this?"

"Well, Sokka told me you took a year of dance lessons and loved it, but had to quit for financial reasons…consider this a gift from me and your mother."

"Aang…" she was blushing as we pulled in. "Oh, my God, I can't dance…"

"Well, you've got the shoes, what else do you need?"

Before she could protest, I ran around to the other side of the car and opened the door for her. She turned off the engine and took my hand, stepping out with an embarrassed smile, clutching tight to her purse.

"I swear, Aang, if this is embarrassing – "

"You're gonna be great, sweetie! Better than me, at any rate."

She smiled and we walked in together, where a clean, bright studio awaited. Thick, heavy salsa music was playing, with a dance class taking place in the corner and other couples dancing on the other side of the floor.

"We're here for the dance lesson," I said to the receptionist. "I'm Aang Nomad."

She smiled at me. "Well, Mr. Nomad, you're all paid for. Tonight we're doing salsa, cha cha, and rumba. You can join the lesson or just dance, whatever you prefer."

"We should probably do the lesson first," Katara said, "I haven't done this since I was like eight."

"Whatever works for you, hun."

The teacher smiled and beckoned us over to the group of people dancing, their hips swinging in union. "Hi, guys! Alright, basic salsa step – right, rock back, step back, left, rock back, step back."

What? I watched the other guys, the way that they placed their feet forward and back so surely, and though it didn't look so hard, I clearly did not have the right rhythm.

"Jeez, this is hard, isn't it?" I said, turning to Katara – only to have the words stop in my mouth. Katara was dancing the salsa easily, without even looking at her feet, gray skirt swinging as her hips ground, arms up by her chest. She looked at me and winked.

"I think you'll get it," she said.

Throughout the lesson, Katara came alive. She was a step ahead of the instructor at every turn, easily and surely twisting her beautiful body with the music. The guy instructors came out of the back room to dance with her, and she spun under their arms like a top, her hair flying out. I probably should have been jealous, but it was so beautiful to watch her dance I didn't even care.

We got to the freestyle part, and she walked over to me, a sultry smile on her lips, and took my hands. "Got it?"

"I think so," I said, as our bodies moved together. Her face was flushed and her palms sweaty, but she moved her hips in time and I found myself sinking into her spell. I held up my arm and she spun, flashing her long brown legs, and we moved across the dance floor, perfectly in sync. It wasn't even me dancing, I was simply follwing her hair and her hips, the way her legs kicked and spun and straightened.

Somehow we ended up face to face, and she ground her hips right against my junk. I placed my hands on her back and moved with her, whispering to the song,

"And just like the ocean, under the moon – see that's the same emotion I get from you…you gotta the kinda lovin' that can be so smooth – gimme your heart, make it real – "

"Or else forget about it," she finished, biting her dark red lip.

Oh, _man_.

Cha cha? No problem. Rumba? Check. Katara cut her path through the dance floor like Moses parting the red sea. Guys lined up to dance with her. She took one second to reapply her red lipstick and I saw about five guys staring at her ass. I sat in the corner and smirked and said to myself,

_She's going home with _me.

Eventually we left the dance lesson and just danced by ourselves on the other side of the floor. After running through all of the dances that we knew, we found ourselves on the corner of the floor, as Katara grinded on me, one hand in her hair, my fingers pressing into her hips. It wasn't even funny how much more fun this was than when I did this with Meng.

"Everybody's staring," she whispered at me, my face pressed into her neck.

"You were a rockstar out there," I replied.

She smiled, and twisted her hips the other way. My erection was literally painful. "What time is it?"

I checked my watch. "10:52."

"We got eight minutes before Sokka starts texting."

"...Car. _Now_."

We ran outside and jumped into the car. Immediately I let the passenger seat down and she grabbed my shirt and pulled me on top of her. Her fingers pulled open my shirt and ran over my chest – oh, my God – and I kissed her like it was the last thing I'd do on earth.

"You can touch my chest," she whispered.

Woot! Her boobs were soft and sweet, as I ran my fingers under her shirt and felt the silky fabric of her bra. She grabbed my neck and arched her back, pressing right against my hips.

"What's this?" she whispered.

"Huh?" I was too distracted by her beautiful lips.

"_This_."

She flicked open my zipper and ran her finger over the erection pushing agaisnt my boxers. I gave a shuddering gasp.

"_Katara_…"

A smile that I'd never seen before was playing on her lips. "You need to take better care of this." She reached down and gently stroked the tip. HOLY SHIT. "When was the last time you gave yourself some lovin'?"

The idea of Katara – beautiful, innocent, nerdy Katara – touching my head and asking about masturbation was pretty much the biggest turn-on of my whole life. "Baby, it's not that I don't take care of business…the way you dance would get any guy excited."

She smiled, kissed me, and then put her other hand down my pants. "Well, maybe I can help you out there…"

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod –

_Buzzzzzzzzz_.

Both of us froze.

_Buzzzzzzzzzzz._

"Goddamn it, Sokka," we both said. I picked up my phone and read the text.

_Eleven. Time to come home. I gave Toph a Red Bull and a baseball bat and told her she could do whatever she wanted if you came home after 11:30._

"Sokka says we have to come home," I said.

She frowned and took a look at my penis. "How close are you?"

"One more touch from you and I might blow."

She grabbed a shirt from the backseat, pushed me into the driver's seat, and pulled down my boxers. "This won't take long."

And that's how I got my first handjob in the front seat of my car. To this day it stands as one of the greatest orgasms of my entire life.

We knew Sokka would not stand for any lingering in the car, so we spent the fifteen minute drive back home furiously hiding the jizz-soaked shirt as Katara poured hand sanitizer on both of our hands. When we pulled up I looked at her and smiled.

"Thank you for such a great night, hun. Not just the handjob. All of it."

She beamed at me. "There's no one else I'd rather have spent the night with. I hope you don't think I'm a slut… that was only my second handjob."

The door banged open and Sokka stood in the doorway, holding a clearly hyper Toph by the collar. "OUT OF THE CAR, NOW."

Katara and I leapt out and stood at attention.

"Well? How was it?" Grandfather poked his head out, a happy smile on his face.

"Even though you're back within the time limit, I still suspect both of you of engaging in – _heel_, Toph – illicit activities."

"What did you do to Toph?" Katara asked, ignoring the question.

"She doesn't react well to caffeine," Sokka said, an amused smile on his face. "Except she did learn to play the ukulele in one night. Toph, _sit_ – goddamn it, Toph, I said _sit_ - "

Toph broke free and plowed right into Katara, forcing her to stumble back as she got the wind knocked out of her. "_Ooof_ – Toph – "

"I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU!" She squealed.

"I don't see what's so bad about this," Katara said, stroking Toph's hair. "She never tells me she loves me."

"Wait till she starts humping your leg."

"_Well_? How was the date?" Grandfather repeated.

I beamed and said, "Absolutely breathtaking."

* * *

The rumble of Ozai's car driving away reached Zuko even through his headphones. He rolled his eyes. Of course he had to drive a hemi. Whatever. He was so over Ozai. He came to the Agni house, didn't even bother saying hi to Zuko, went straight to Azula's room and started arguing. Their yelling had forced Zuko to put in his headphones in the first place. He took one out of his ear and listened to see if there was any crying from Azula's room. Just silence. Hopefully she was napping.

He was only able to play Call of Duty for another ten minutes before the doorbell rang. He sighed and ambled through the giant house to the front door, figuring it wasn't worth it to yell for the servants to come.

"Yo." It was Mai and Ty Lee. Mai was smoking and Ty Lee was beaming, so nothing unusual. "Zula home? We're supposed to go do stupid teenager shit."

Mai's honesty was so epic sometimes. "Yeah, Ozai just left. They were arguing, she might be in a bad mood."

"Nothing we haven't seen before," Mai replied, as the three of them headed down the halls toward Azula's room.

"Zu-leee!" Ty Lee chirped, opening the door. "Time to go be dumb!"

Azula was lying facedown on the bed, her hair tousled.

"Come on, sleepyhead, we got a date," Mai said, walking forward to poke her shoulder.

Azula didn't move. Zuko and Mai realized at the same time what an odd angle her limbs were in – like a marionette that had fallen to the floor.

"Azula," Mai said, sitting down, her voice low. "Come on, girl."

She rolled her over and gasped when they saw the blood staining her mouth and shirt, her eyes closed, bruises peppering her skin. Her right arm bent at an unnatural angle.

"Azula?" Zuko said, fear clenching his heart. "Holy shit, Azula?"

Mai reached for her wrist and listened for a moment. "She's alive. We gotta get her to the hospital."

What? How was this real? This couldn't be real. They were just arguing – Ozai wouldn't…I mean, he _couldn't_ –

"Zuko, _now_. We don't have much time."

"Yeah, okay." He reached down and picked her up bridal-style, her head lolling limply to the side. Mai grabbed her keys and was rushing to the door.

"Ty Lee, call the hospital, tell them she's coming."

Ty Lee, her brown eyes full of tears, nodded and began dialing with trembling fingers. They moved to Mai's Range Rover and loaded Azula into the backseat, where Zuko piled in after her and put her head on his lap. The whole experience was surreal, Mai driving like a possessed maniac through the streets as Ty Lee, with much sobbing, told the ER that there was a domestic abuse case coming in. Zuko ran his fingers through her black hair and thought that the words 'domestic abuse' didn't cover it. It didn't fully explain what was happening. He'd known about it for years, ever since their father first started beating her as a child, but somehow it never felt so real as now, with dried blood on the corner of her mouth, her teeth stained red, bruises all over her delicate neck.

The nurses tutted and took Azula behind a curtain. Mai told Zuko they were checking to see if Ozai had raped her as well as beat her. The silence behind the curtain told them all the answers they needed.

They came out, asked Zuko what had happened, asked for insurance and date of birth and how long she'd been with the abuser and what parent to contact. Zuko didn't know who to put for the parent. Would his father care? Or would he force Azula to keep dating Ozai? The vicious cycle of her life had caught up to her, caught up to him, caught up to all of them.

"We don't have a parent," he finally said. "I'm the point of contact."

They shook their heads and clapped him on the back and told them that her arm was broken and there was a fair amount of internal bruising and bleeding and they might have to go in and stitch some things up (Zuko's stomach dropped to the floor), but she should be released tomorrow or the day after. Did he want to begin statutory rape proceedings about the rapist?

"I don't know," he replied. If he began proceedings, he'd be killed. But given the choice, Azula wouldn't initiate it. What the hell was he supposed to do? How did this become so complicated? A man raped and beat his sister, and they couldn't send him to jail where he belonged? What the _fuck_ was wrong with this world?

Eventually they took her to the ICU to start an IV drip, put her arm in a cast and take a closer look at the internal damage. They told the three they could go home, but they stayed sitting in the waiting room of the ER in complete silence. It didn't feel right to go back home and pretend everything was okay. Ty Lee spoke up and said that they should maybe go clean up the blood before their dad and the maids got home, but Zuko shook his head. Better they know.

Zuko didn't know how long they sat there. He looked at the clock with no comprehension of the numbers. Mai had to leave every ten minutes for a cigarette, ignoring the judging looks from the nurses. It was a sign of how desperate the times were when Ty Lee stayed quiet, sitting on the chair holding her knees to her chest, her eyes so despondent and dead.

At some point, Suki Kyoshi walked into the ER from the main hospital, rubbing her eyes. It was a few minutes before Zuko absorbed this fact.

"Suki?" He said, his voice hoarse.

She turned and raised her eyebrows. "Zuko? What are you guys doing here?"

Without a moment's pause, Ty Lee walked over and buried her face in Suki's shoulder, sobbing hysterically. Suki began stroking Ty Lee's hair and gingerly moved them over to a chair. She sat down and Ty Lee plopped right onto her lap, continuing to sob into her neck. Suki raised her eyebrows at Zuko, looking for an explanation.

"My sister Azula was raped and beaten," Zuko said. "She's in the ICU."

For a moment Suki didn't know what to say. She rubbed Ty Lee's back with a tenderness that Zuko didn't expect of her. Finally she said,

"I'm sorry. She's a bitch, but no one deserves that. Will she be okay?"

"Eventually," Mai responded. "We just didn't feel like leaving yet."

Suki nodded knowingly.

"What are you doing here?"

She shrugged. "I was in town for a court hearing and decided to come visit. One of my girls got in a nasty car accident the other day. She's doing much better, but I wanted to come say hi."

"A court hearing?" Zuko asked.

Suki closed her eyes briefly and shifted Ty Lee on her lap like a child. Now that Zuko was looking closely, she wasn't dressed in her usual gangster clothing. She had on nice dress slacks, a white button-down shirt, and black flats, with her brown hair pulled into a bun.

Finally she said, "With my parents in jail, I'm a ward of the state. I've been running away from foster homes for a while…kinda living with one of the girl's families now. And there's a debate about whether or not I should be in Witness Protection Program, in case they bring up charges against your dad…and they don't really want me going to Gaolin State, cause it's far away from them. So I have to go and argue my case."

Zuko and Mai stared at her, like soldiers looking at each other over the line of demarcation, inextricably and curiously linked by their shared pain.

Suki took a deep breath through her nose and said, "It's okay. I turn eighteen in April. Then there's nothing they can do to me. I'll be free to do whatever I want. No thanks to your sister, she almost made me lose my scholarship."

Zuko wasn't sure what to say. But Mai did.

"Ozai did it to her," she replied.

Suki blinked. "But they're dating."

Mai nodded.

Suki thought about it for a while, her eyes shifting to the windows, at the darkening sky outside. Finally she gently disentangled herself from Ty Lee, who promptly fell into Mai's lap. Then she stood up, looked down at them and said,

"If you don't take a stand against Ozai and what he stands for, now that he's hurt one of you, then none of you will ever deserve to look Aang and Katara and Sokka and Toph and I in the eyes again. Now that you know the truth…it's your duty to fight with us."

And she walked away, out the doors. Zuko looked Mai in the eyes and knew she was right.

* * *

**:( Don't really know what to say. That chapter took a lot out of me. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! At 21 chapters, this is the longest story I've ever written for Fanfiction, and I'm so grateful for all of you for sticking with it! If we could reach 200 reviews, that would make my night :) Thanks so much, my loves! Next chapter is lots of action; Toph badassery, Kataangy goodness, and more Zuko! (Too much Zuko is never enough) Gonna go take a walk to clear my head. Pissed that my boyfriend told me to stop getting tattoos, PVB  
**


	22. The Warriors

**Chapter Twenty-Two: The Warriors**

* * *

"I wish Toph could see how hot she was in those shorts."

I looked over into the corner of the darkened gym. Completely oblivious to the fight currently going on in the ring, she was standing in the corner, taping her knuckles. Her pale skin shined even in the dark light. My eyes travelled downward, to her thick legs, tight calves –

"Dat ass," Sokka said definitively.

"Have you even talked to her?" I asked.

Sokka huffed and crossed his arms. "Uh…yeah…totally – "

"Have you even looked her in the eyes since she cut herself?"

"I _can't_, Aang."

"Right. Sorry."

"Look, I'm gonna talk to her. She's not exactly giving me much opportunity to initiate things. The only time we come close to talking is when we play guitar together."

He did have a point. "Well, maybe you can do that. Sing to her. I'm sure that'll reach her better than talking will."

"Oh, yeah, because I'm _so_ good at showing my emotions – oh, shit!"

The Boulder, who had managed to work his way up the ranks again, threw the opponent out of the ring, sending the whole arena in a frenzy. Chang, the referee, jumped down and grabbed the microphone.

"That's another KO for the Boulder! You know what that means – "

"BLIND – BITCH! BLIND – BITCH!"

Sokka and I took part in the feverish chanting, as the Boulder removed his gloves. When Toph stepped into the arena, hiking up her tiny booty shorts (only we could tell the faint white lines were cut marks), the stadium got to its feet and screamed. She winked and instead of getting in her fighting stance, went right to the microphone.

"Good evening, motherfuckers!"

The crowd roared. Sokka and I looked at the confused expressions on Chang and the Boulder's faces, and then at each other. Toph had told us something good would happen tonight, but she hadn't told us what.

"Alright, so it's a tough life being an MMA fan. You come here every week and _every_ week you have to see me kick some poor fucker's ass. It gets so _boring_, right?"

The crowd laughed. Toph grinned, showing all of her pristine teeth.

"Well, how about we switch it up? Wanna watch me kick TWO poor fucker's asses?"

The arena erupted. Chang and the Boulder looked at each other for a split second before Toph turned and pointed at them (she was slightly off, but whatever).

"This is me, the Blind Bitch, undefeated champion of Four Nations MMA, challenging Chang _and_ the Boulder to a final round. Me, versus the two of you. No gloves, just blood."

"What is she doing?" I whispered to Sokka, who just shrugged. Chang and the Boulder looked at each other, clearly at a loss.

"You pussies too chicken to take on a tiny, blind girl?" she whimpered, batting her eyelashes.

The whole room laughed, and finally Chang couldn't take it and yelled something inaudible over the cheering – it sounded like 'You're on!'

The crowd went crazy, but Toph's voice cut through, "SHUT THE FUCK UP, I'm not done yet."

We all went quiet, and Toph pointed to us. "If I win this match – blind, without gloves – all of you must vote for Aang Nomad for Prom King."

Everyone started mumbling, and a couple of people around us looked at me, which made me blush. So this was why she wanted us here tonight. She stood strong in the center of the court.

"We're Earth District. We stick together against assholes like Ozai. I know he's told you that he'll beat you up if you don't vote for him. And he's definitely right. But just like I'm gonna volunteer to get my ass kicked by two guys – not that my ass is _going_ to get kicked – I've decided I'm done being a pussy in this school. And if he beats me up, at least I stood for something. If I win and you vote for Aang, then I promise you that whatever Fire District assholes come and beats you up, I will personally find them and I will do to them what I'm about to do to Chang and the Pebble."

A low rumble had been building in the arena, as the Earth District kids stomped their feet on the ground, creating a sound like thunder and reached a climax as Toph punched her arm in the air and they all screamed their approval. She nodded, tossed the mic to the side, and turned to the two men.

"Ready to eat shit?" she asked casually.

Chang and the Boulder bent down. Toph reached in, adjusting her hearing aids, and then casually crouched down.

It happened instantaneously – faster than I had ever seen any Earth kid move. Chang sprinted forward, aiming his elbow at her back, hoping to catch her off guard, but she ducked down and kicked him in the back. The Boulder was behind her with a chair, but she swerved under, punched him in the chin, Chang was up, got her under the legs, the whole crowd gasped as she fell on her back, she caught his hand between her ankles and literally flipped him over, launching herself back to her feet –

"Holy fuck," Sokka whispered.

Toph was an ice-cold bitch, somehow managing to predict their moves before they did, her ears always cocked to the two men, her feet weaving between them like she was in some sort of dance. The punches came fast and furious, and she got more than her fair share of body shots and even a nasty punch to the face that had Sokka almost screaming in fear, but she refused to even take a moment to feel the pain, always steady as a rock, using their momentary victory at punching her as a weakness for her to hit them back. What she lacked in strength she made up for in agility – ducking under, swerving around and at a few points even jumping over the men. The Boulder was no problem, she'd beaten him before, and she had him down on the ground within a few seconds of him standing up, but Chang she couldn't figure out, I could see her brows furrowed as she tried to figure out his fighting style, especially since he was the one getting all the punches in.

Eventually, ten minutes in, she said out loud, "Fuck it," and punched the Boulder straight to the nose. He dropped like a rock and didn't get up. Then she spat on the ground and turned to Chang.

"Alright, buddy, you and me."

She and Chang stayed still for a moment. Chang tiptoed around the arena, using Toph's weakness against her. She flared her nostrils and listened closer, her fists brought up to her chest, just waiting –

Chang struck, she went down on her stomach, he was on top of her throwing body shot after body shot, the crowd moaned,

"Dude, she's a _girl_!" Sokka cried.

"She knows what she's doing, don't worry!" I said, though I was about as nervous as he was. "If she wanted to be treated like a girl she wouldn't be in MMA!"

Some guy who was acting as referee moved closer, waiting for the inevitable tap out, but none came, Toph just went in like a turtle and absorbed the body shots. Chang's face contorted as he tried to wear her down, but after five minutes of straight punching, he finally paused.

Which was when she threw him off of her, throwing her arms wide like a bird, the crowd went apeshit, and she turned and started kicking the shit out of him, her legs flying, there was blood coming out of various cuts in her body but she just kept kicking, he tried to defend, and then with a ferocious kick to the jaw he went down, and then she was the one on top of him, holding his hair in one hand and choking him with the other.

"Gonna surrender now, huh, old friend?" She hissed, pulling his hair back.

He gave a toothy grin and whispered something to her, something which we had no chance of hearing. But her entire face went slack and her eyes widened.

Then she completely lost it.

She pulled him to his feet and then threw him back down, sitting on top of him, literally pounding the shit out of his face, her face twisted in rage. We had no idea what was happening, but he tapped out and she kept going, kept punching and punching and punching and when the referee finally managed to drag her off, she aimed one last kick to his balls.

Then she broke free of the referee and stood before us panting, blood trickling out of her mouth. There was an atmosphere of fear in the arena that hadn't been there earlier. Toph was _terrifying_. What had Chang said to her that made her lose it like that?

Finally she pointed at us, managed a cocky smile and said,

"See you bitches at Prom. Aang Nomad or Death."

And then she hobbled out of the arena.

Sokka and I were on our feet in a heartbeat and raced down to the locker rooms. Toph hadn't even made it that far. She was leaning on the wall, gasping, her black hair falling in chunks from her bun.

"Oh, my God, Toph, are you okay?" I gasped when we reached her.

She took a moment to breathe, her entire chest heaving, and then spat again. It came out red. "I'll be fine. I need Katara."

"Katara? She's working at the Jasmine Dragon tonight, she'll be off soon."

"Take me there," she grunted. Her whole voice sounded strange – like it was pained. "I need to talk to her."

"Should we – I mean, your cuts – "

"I'll be fine, _I need Katara_."

Sokka and I looked at each other and grabbed her under the shoulders. After a quick pit stop for her bag, we got to the car before anyone saw us, and even though I still didn't have my license, I knew Sokka had to sit in the back with her. Toph leaned into him and closed her eyes, suddenly more open to human contact than she had been in months. Sokka put his arm around her and rubbed her shoulders and sent me confused looks through the rear view window. What was going on?

When we reached the Jasmine Dragon, Toph didn't move. She kept leaning into Sokka. I saw his face slip from worry into something more peaceful. Whatever was going on, apparently it wasn't so bad that she couldn't lean on us.

"Honey, thank you," I finally said. "For fighting for me."

That provoked a smile. "Anytime, Twinkletoes. Earth kids are idiots. Sometimes, you just gotta talk to them on their own terms."

Eventually, Katara came out, looking exhausted, dragging her feet with her braid straggling. She furrowed her eyebrows when she saw my worried expression in the front seat.

"Aang, why are you driv – holy shit, _Toph_?"

She immediately fell into the backseat and put Toph's face in her hands.

"What happened, sweetie?"

"She took on two people in the ring tonight," Sokka said. "Convinced the rest of the Earth kids to vote for Aang."

"Oh, _honey_…" Katara began gingerly lifting up Toph's shirt, hissing when she saw bruises and cuts over her whole torso. "Honey…"

"Katara…" Toph said. "Chang…last April…it was…"

Katara froze.

Sokka and I shared a look that clearly said we had no idea what the fuck was going on. How could Katara get so much from five words?

"Aang, take us home right now."

"Yes ma'am," I said, turning out of the parking lot and down the dark roads home. Sokka, Toph and Katara made an adorable trinity in the backseat, with Toph looking more peaceful than she had in so long – like beating those men had settled something for her.

When we got home, Katara kissed Grandfather on the cheek; grabbed a box of ice cream, bandages and Neosporin; whistled to Appa and Momo; and locked herself, Toph and the animals in their bedroom. Sokka and I sat in the living room and pondered the murky depths of girl-speak that neither of us could ever hope to understand.

* * *

The cold wall felt good against Katara's forehead. She stood in the hallway, still not changed out of her Jasmine Dragon uniform, her whole body slumped. But Toph was taken care of. And now she could begin her homework.

She went into Aang's room and changed into one of his t-shirts and sleep pants, not wanting to go back into her room and disturb the cuddle sesh that was taking place. But neither did she want to go out in the living room and do her homework, now that Grandfather had gone to bed and taken the sweet-smelling candle with him.

She rubbed her eyes, feeling like there were pounds of sand beneath each eyelid. Oy vey.

That's when she noticed the thin tendril of smoke rising from the back porch.

She pursed her lips and went outside to investigate.

For half a second she thought Aang was smoking a cigarette and was about to go back into mega-mommy mode, but when she got outside she saw that the smoke came from two sticks of incense, stuck into the soft dirt and burning gently. Aang sat before them, one knee pulled up to his chest, looking up at the sky. He started when he saw Katara, but she just waved and sat down beside him.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Hey," he replied. "Nice clothes."

She laughed. "Yeah, well, I figured I've _seen_ you, so we're past the awkwardness."

Aang nodded. "How's Toph?"

"Better," Katara sighed. "I did what I could. But…what she needs tonight is to know that…not all men are assholes. So Sokka's with her now."

"What _happened_?"

Katara shook her head. "Toph…she…her 'friends'…it happened last year…I figured, but she hadn't really told me…the way she acted…"

"You are making no sense."

"Chang did something to her," she finally said. "Something bad. She didn't know who did it. But now she does. And I think she's finally taken her revenge."

Aang sat for a moment, his eyes shifting from Katara to the ground. She watched closely as painful realization dawned on his eyes. When he looked up at her, she said quietly,

"Make more sense now?"

Aang nodded. "Does Sokka know?"

Katara chewed on her lip for a while and said, "She asked me not to tell him, so we should honor that. I don't know why. But for now, let's keep it between us."

Aang nodded again and put his head back on his knee. Katara was still in her mothering mode, so the permanent crease between his eyebrows worried her.

"Hun, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong…just…thinking."

She pulled her knees into her chest too and let him think. She'd never had a friend like this – one that she could just sit in silence with. Now she had three of them. And Aang was the best listener of them all. She suspected that what happened to him had taught him the benefit of silence.

Out of the blue, he said, "This was all we could do for my parents."

She looked over at him.

"After they died. When we were in the bunker…this was all we could do to honor them. Light two sticks of incense and read the Bhagavata. So…this is kind of…my way of feeling close to them."

"Can you tell me about them?"

Aang scrunched up his face for a moment, and Katara looked away as he got his pride together, knowing he wouldn't want to be seen crying in front of her. Finally he started talking, the words coming like they'd been buried for years.

"They were _awesome_. Just…incredible. High school sweethearts, actually. My dad was Grandpa's only son, so he didn't have a lot of friends going into high school…and he met my mom, Alina, and just fell in love."

Katara got an uncomfortable, warm squirming in her stomach. This sounded familiar…

"And they left graduated and became doctors together, and we travelled all around the Air District, going to whichever place that needed us most after the Fire District came. We finally ended up in the Southern city, cause that's where Grandpa was. I had some friends, but we moved so much, so it was really just me and my parents. We would spend all our time together, at nights, playing board games, reading…they told me stories, we drank tea, my dad was funny and crazy and kinda forgetful and my mom was beautiful and quiet and kept us together, and when Grandpa was there just being Grandpa we had the funnest time. They died…you know, they died trying to go out and help people. When the fires started, they told Grandpa and I to go down in the bunker, they had to go to the hospital and help people. I assume they died, we couldn't really tell from the corpses. Everyone else died, so I assume they did too. My dad was gonna give me his wedding ring, but we couldn't find it in the rubble."

Katara let her head flop to the side, looking into those gray eyes.

"It was actually a few months before we kinda started…like, dealing with it. You know, the pain was too much, and we were too afraid that they'd come back, the Fire District, so at first we had to just hunker down and bury it and just focus on surviving. But eventually…you know, the mourning process wasn't so bad, actually, cause that's when we got Appa."

"Really?" That provoked a giggle from Katara.

"Yeah," Aang smiled. "We were out scavenging for food and we saw him, just a little puppy, crying and looking around. Of course we took him in, and he kinda helped us deal. And when we got here, I wanted a cat, and we went to the shelter and they told us they found Momo roaming around in one of the other Air District cities. So the four of us are really the only ones left from the District."

Katara smiled at the way his face seemed more relaxed. Then came the question she knew would be next –

"What was your mother like?"

Katara closed her eyes briefly against the memories. The night was so calm. All of Grandfather's tools lined up against the wall, sitting peacefully. The tarp pulled over the cistern. She wished she could have seen the gleam of the moon on the water. Nothing else reminded her so powerfully of her mother.

"Her name was Kya," she began. "I...people have always said I look just like her. Before she had us, she was a school nurse. She loved helping people, loved teaching. She was so kind. Dad had to go away a lot for the army, so she always took care of us. She was kind of the head of our district, since Dad was the chief. Everyone looked up to her. She was just _so nice_. And I think that's why I'm so…you know…"

"Obnoxiously mothering?"

Katara gave him a look, then continued, "Yeah, I guess so. Cause I kind of had to mother Sokka _and_ Dad after she died. She taught me to never turn my back on people who need me.

"But I think she would be happy I was living here," she said with a smile. "With you. I mean, it's the little stuff, like how we're recycling rainwater in the cistern and we compost and stuff like that. But it's more than that. The way you all love me for who I am, and let Sokka be himself, and gave us a home where we could fight against injustice…she would _love_ that. She always said it was only a matter of time before the Fire District came for us. We just never thought it would be her that would get taken."

She rested her head on her knees. The bitterness welled up, coppery and thick, in her throat. It was all bullshit. That's all there was. It was bullshit.

She started when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Aang schooching closer to her. She smiled as they rested their heads together. She wasn't _happy_ by any means that they'd both lost a parent…but a small part of her was grateful that it had brought them together.

They looked at each other, and the look on Aang's face belied his intentions. Katara closed her eyes and leaned forward too. It was just a kiss –

Until there was a strange muffled boom, and Aang slumped forward with a look of shock on his face.

Katara looked up, gasping, but there were more shots, so she grabbed Aang and ducked behind one of the square pillars. Not fully comprehending, she ripped open Aang's nightshirt and saw a gunshot wound in the small of his back, blood spreading rapidly, _what_?

"Where are you, Katara?"

Her stomach dropped. _Zhao_!

Aang was passed out, but still looked alive. She had no idea, but she reached her fingers in, pulled the bullet out with slippery fingers, and then stuffed a corner of his shirt into the hole to stop the bleeding.

"I'm waiting, little girl!"

Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit –

There was nothing for it. She took a deep breath and peeked out from behind the pillar. The pistol with its silencer was lying on the ground. Maybe he'd run out of bullets? Either way, Zhao stood there with a terrifying knife raised up and a crazed look in his eyes.

Slowly, petrified, she stepped out from behind the pillar, wearing a t-shirt with no bra and silk sleep pants with Stewie from 'Family Guy' on them.

But one look at Zhao, the way that he'd _shot_ Aang…and suddenly she straightened up and crossed her arms.

"Shouldn't you be in jail?" She called, her voice steady.

Zhao smiled. "That's the thing about being rich, baby girl…suddenly little things like _laws_ don't matter anymore."

"Well, you're going back there tonight, that's for damn sure."

"Oh, and what's a little girl like you going to do to stop me? I'm gonna slit your throat, then cut off your pretty hair and take it to Ozai for a prize."

He had a point. What the hell _was_ she going to do? She cast her eyes around wildly, looking for something, anything – all she saw was a bunch of old, rusty tools and a tarp on the ground –

Her brain clicked.

"Well, why don't you get over here and do it?" She called, planting her hands on her hips.

Zhao raised his eyebrows.

"I'm not leaving Aang," she called, measuring how far he had to walk to get to her. She picked up Aang and walked back slowly until she was against the wall. "So if you want me, come and get me!"

Zhao curled his lip. "You're cute. I don't know what you're planning, but all you've got is an art scholarship to a crappy community college, and that's not gonna be enough to save you."

"Oh, _hell_ no!" She screamed. The moon, which had always acted as the trumpet in the ancient song of her people, was suddenly rushing through her veins. "I am more than you! You may have destroyed the Water and the Air Districts, but you haven't destroyed _me_! So get the fuck over here and let me show you how much of a _warrior_ I am!"

Zhao gave a low half-scream and walked forward. Only a few more seconds – she only had a split second – she reached behind her and desperately looked for something, _anything_ – a shovel? Alright, we can work with that.

_Come on, big guy…a few more steps…_

"I'm gonna love killing you," he whispered. "It's gonna feel just like when I killed that white-haired cu – "

He suddenly dropped to the ground, the entire lower half of his body sinking into the tarp-covered cistern that he'd unknowingly stepped into. With no hesitation, Katara ran forward and swung the shovel with all her might right into his temple.

He slumped right over, his forehead hitting the ground.

For a moment she stood there panting, her shovel held aloft.

Then she dropped it and ran to the house, screaming, "GRANDFATHER! WE NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL, NOW!"

Sokka and Toph got there first, with Sokka yelling when he saw Zhao unconscious and Aang shot and Toph desperately asking, "What, what happened?"

Grandfather came out and gasped, but Katara was ahead of him, hefting Aang over her shoulder. "Grandpa, get the car started. Sokka – "

"On it," he said, pulling out his cellphone to call the police.

"Toph, help me carry him."

Toph rushed over with no idea what was going on and grabbed Aang's feet as they raced to the car.

"_What happened?_" she asked.

"I have no idea," Katara said, her breath hoarse, "but I hope I just saved Aang's life."

* * *

I'd never woken up in the hospital before, not even after the raids when I had some pretty bad burns. I suppose it should have been scary.

But waking up with Katara's face over me somehow made it a lot better.

I blinked and moved my head.

"Hey," she said, her voice soft.

"Katara…?" God, she looked terrible. Her hair was a mess and there were huge bags under her eyes. She was wearing…were those my clothes? And no bra…

"What happened?" I asked. There was a ferocious pain in my back.

"Twinkletoes!" Toph and Sokka entered the room, grinning broadly. They didn't look much better.

"Guys?" Why did I feel so messed up?

"I'm so glad you're awake," Katara said. She sounded so tired.

"Why am I here?"

"You got shot," Sokka replied. "By Zhao. He got out of jail and came in the backyard with a pistol."

"No shit?" I said. "Why aren't you all hurt too?"

"Cause Katara bashed his head in with a shovel," Toph said with a grin.

I looked at Katara, disbelief all over my face. She offered a small smile.

"I did what I needed to to protect you."

"She used the cistern," Sokka added, clearly proud of his sister's badassery. "Tricked him into stepping into it, like a true Water District gal."

Katara laughed and ran a hand over her eyes. I closed my eyes and thought back to the events of the night. I remembered the incense, talking about my parents with Katara…and –

"We were about to kiss," I blurted without thinking about it.

Katara flushed, Toph threw her hands in the air, and Sokka stuck his tongue out and said, "Too much information! TOO MUCH INFORMATION!"

"Is that my grandson?"

Grandfather poked his head in. Oh, thank God. They'd tried to get me, but at least they hadn't gotten my grandfather.

"Hi, Grandpa," I said, trying to sit up. My whole back screamed in pain and I had to sit back down as Katara pushed me down on the bed.

"You're not healed yet. They say you'll be able to go back to school next Monday, but you have to stay here."

"You owe a lot to Miss Hatori," Grandfather said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Not only did she use quick thinking to apprehend Zhao, but she took the bullet out herself and created a makeshift bandage to staunch the blood flow. You'd be in a lot worse shape if it wasn't for her."

I looked at this beautiful brown-skinned girl, with her tired blue eyes and slouched shoulders, and suddenly saw so much more. She was only sixteen, and she'd managed to save my life against a convicted murderer? She'd watched me get shot and hadn't freaked out?

"You took a bullet out of my back?" I finally said.

"My mom was a nurse, after all."

"Oh, my God," I said, "you are so beyond badass it's not even funny."

She gave me that sweet smile. "Go back to bed, hun. Everything's gonna be okay now."

I looked into her eyes and drifted to sleep.

Thanks to Katara's quick ministrations and a pair of very skilled doctors, I did return to school in time, with a lumpy scar in the middle of my back and some low-dose pain meds that made me just wonky enough for Sokka to poke fun at. Zhao was in jail again, but Ozai was waiting and glaring at us when we got there, so we figured we'd only fueled their hate fire.

Needless to say, we were all waiting for some good news.

What we got was an announcement at the end of the day.

"Attention students."

The four of us were sitting on the curb waiting for Grandpa to come get us. It wasn't Principal Pathik's voice. It was another voice, smooth and toxic. Chills ran down my spine.

"We have taken a moment to consider the rules regarding your spring Promenade."

Huh?

"He means Prom," Katara whispered, her eyes wide. The four of us sat up even straighter.

"While we cannot prevent freshmen and sophomores from running for Prom King and Queen, we have reviewed the school rules and have determined that freshmen and sophomores are _ineligible to vote_, considering that they may not attend Prom unless accompanied by an upperclassman. Only those freshmen and sophomores who have dates to the Prom may vote for King and Queen. Thank you. That is all."

Oh, _no_.

The four of us looked at each other. My stomach sank like the Titanic, landing in on the cold ocean floor of my stomach. Most of our voting bloc was underclassmen, the ones who were too menial for Ozai to intimidate. But the upperclassmen…most of them were too jaded to care. We had hardly convinced any of them.

"Oh, _shit_," Sokka whispered.

Toph's face fell and Katara looked on the verge of tears. We all saw right through this. It was another Fire District tactic. They'd used their prestige to put another hurdle in our path. But this time, I didn't see how we could jump over this one. There was only a month or so until Prom. How the _fuck_ were we going to convince the juniors and seniors?

Later that night, all of us, even Grandpa, Appa and Momo, sat in the living room, drinking dragonfruit tea and stewing in our silence. There was no motivation to offer strategies. We just sipped and hunkered down. Was this the final blow? I honestly didn't see a way around this one. The Fire District had hit us right in the groin. Just where they knew it would hurt.

The door knocked. Grandfather got up and went to answer it. There was a moment of awkward silence, and then two pairs of footsteps entered the room.

In the light from a single tall candle, Zuko stood in our living room, holding a suitcase. We all sat up.

"Zuko?" Katara asked.

He didn't offer a greeting. "Ozai pulled some strings," he said. "His dad, Azulon, pretty much bullied the school governors into changing the rules."

Nothing we didn't know.

"But that's okay," Zuko said. "You're still gonna win."

"How?" I asked.

"Because I'm going to convince the Fire District kids to vote for you," he said.

* * *

**Yaaay Zuko! Well, I hope you all enjoyed that one! Next chapter is going to be a backtrack - what were the events that finally led Zuko to leave home and support Aang? Lots of Mai, Ty Lee, Azula and Ozai. #firedistrictfun. You guys are AWESOME, thanks so much for all the love on the last chapter! A special shout-out to Transmundane-Transmutation, who personally ensured that I reached 200 reviews! Rock on, gurl :D I promise I'll put a funny chapter in soon, I've written like five sad chapters in a row and I'm getting tired of it...anyway, with my eternal love, PVB  
**

**PS. In case anyone was curious, and cause I forgot, the song in the last chapter was 'Smooth' by Rob Thomas and Santana :) REVIEW!**


	23. Lightning-Struck

**Chapter Twenty-Three – Lightning-Struck**

* * *

***A few days earlier***

There were many things Zuko hated about his father. But the man's car was actually one of the worst. It was a beautifully upkept Lamborghini that was silent and black as a jaguar. You had to listen very closely to know when he arrived. That was one of the good things about Ozai, he guessed – his obnoxious hemi meant that you could always tell when he was coming. With General Ezain, his father, there was no prediction. Just preparation.

He happened to hear the car because he had paused his music to think through a particularly difficult derivation. As soon as he heard the car, he turned the music back on as loud as he could. _Please don't notice me, please don't notice me…_

His father's dress shoes tapped against the tile floors. "Azula? Why in the hell did I get a call from school saying that you had an unexcused absence today?"

No answer.

"Azula? Answer me."

_She can't, asshole._

"Zuko! Where is Azula?"

He threw the door down without knocking and glared down at his son. Ezain was like an older version of Ozai – loud, angry, irrational. It was no wonder they got along so well.

"She's in the hospital," Zuko answered.

"What? The _hospital_?"

Zuko nodded, trying to make eye contact even though he was terrified.

"What for? Why is she in the hospital?" Zuko enjoyed hearing the surprise in his father's voice. This was something he was not prepared for.

"Because," Zuko said, "Ozai beat her within an inch of her life and _raped_ her. She's got a broken arm and internal bleeding."

Ezain exhaled and crossed his arms. "I'll have to have a word with that boy."

Zuko wasn't expecting anything better, but the phrase still made his blood boil. "You'll have a _talk_ with him? After he raped your only daughter? You'll _talk_ with him?"

"Zuko, I don't have the patience for your 'righteous fury' right now. Ozai went too far, and I'll talk to him. But Azula knows what's expected of her. This is a matter of Fire District hegemony. It's part of the strategy."

"_What strategy_? Why won't you tell me? What is this grand plan that so much shit has to happen for?"

Ezain laughed, his eyes haughty as he looked down at Zuko. "You wouldn't understand," he said, before walking out.

Zuko groaned in anger and frustration as another layer of smoke was added to the cloud that had followed him around his whole life.

Later that day, he, Mai and Ty Lee met at the hospital for the late hour of visiting hours. Azula smiled when they came in and stayed quiet while Ty Lee chattered about her day and Mai watched her inquisitively. Azula had become so quiet. She sat in the hospital bed with her arm in a cast and just looked at them, the nurses that came in. Just looked. Zuko was worried something was broken.

Eventually all of the loud, giggly families left the ICU-West, and it was just the four of them sitting in her small room. A bunch of red poppies sat on the bedside table. Assuring that the nurses wouldn't see, Mai had lit up Azula's favorite flavor of incense – spicewood – on the floor. The thin tendrils of curling smoke twisted around his sister's head.

"What's the strategy?" Zuko asked.

Azula looked at him.

"What are you talking about?" Ty Lee asked. Mai crossed her arms.

Zuko just looked at his sister. Azula stared back. Her face was blank, her golden eyes somehow seeing through Zuko, fuzzy and unfocused.

"What is it?" he repeated. "What is Dad's plan? Why are we doing this?"

Now Mai was staring at him too. Azula hadn't moved. Zuko far preferred the bitchy, yeling, out-of-control sister he'd known his whole life. This new, broken Azula scared him. The whole ward was so silent.

"You know," Azula finally said.

"Know what?"

"The strategy. They've talked about it in front of you. You know what it is."

Zuko shook his head.

"Think."

Azula's voice was low and dead.

Zuko exhaled and said, "I mean, like, it's world domination or whatever, about how we destroyed the Air District and now we're going after the Water District…but I mean, I don't see what the plan is."

Azula looked blankly at him. Mai finally said,

"Zuko, that _is_ the plan."

He looked between the two girls. "What?"

"The plan is to do the same thing to the Water District that they did to the Air District," Mai said. "And they're going to do it this summer."

"Wait, that can't be right," Zuko said, panic rising in his chest. "I thought…I mean, there's no way they're actually expecting…world domination? That can't – "

The silence from Mai and Azula answered his question. Ty Lee had her hands pressed to her mouth.

"_How_?" he asked. "What the – I mean…this can't – "

"You said it yourself," Mai said. "We destroyed the Air District, now they're going against the Water District. Ozai's dad, Azulon, was in charge of the domination of the Air District. So he planned for Ozai to take care of the Water District after he graduated, so Azulon and Ezain could focus on the Earth District, which is much bigger and more powerful.

"Problem was, we didn't destroy the Air District. Aang Nomad and his grandfather survived. Our parents didn't think that was possible. Nobody was supposed to survive. And if they'd found out about Aang while he was still underground, he'd be dead by now. But Aang stole a tsungi horn from an Earth District colony school when he was thirteen, so the government found out about him before our parents did. So now he's under government protection, unable to be touched, and we have a problem."

"It was a bet," Azula said. "Meant to be a joke. Azulon told Ozai if he could win Prom King for four years, he'd get to lead the Water District invasion. They were just messing around. It was supposed to be easy."

"Problem is," Mai said, "the first day that Aang stepped foot in Four Nations, he managed to become friends with two of the most important people in the school, two people that we'd managed to squash for years, two people that we thought were non-factors – the functional prince and princess of the Southern Water District, Katara and Sokka Hatori. Their dad, Hakoda, is broke as hell but an incredible battle tactician, even better than Arnook, the chief of the Northern District. Our parents won't admit how terrified they are of him."

"Ozai thought he could deal with it quickly by intimidating Katara," Azula said, as she shifted. This story sounded like it'd been waiting to be told for years. "It was a fatal miscalculation. Aang Nomad got pissed and said he was going to run for Prom King. And the very first person he recruits is the other Water District princess, Yue Misong, the only other person in the school with the power to rival Ozai's. Azulon was pissed as _hell_. This was not supposed to happen. All of these people who could bring us down were suddenly friends, and they were angry. It wasn't supposed to happen. But Azulon told Ozai he didn't have to worry if he won Homecoming court, like we had for years."

"But we didn't," Zuko said. "Yue won Homecoming Queen."

Azula nodded. "It was unacceptable. Zhao's dad, a completely irrational hothead, told Zhao to deal with it by killing Yue. It was the second fatal miscalculation. It only pissed them off even more, gave the movement its first martyr. So then they start going after Earth kids."

"Alright, guys, visiting hours are over," the nurse said, poking her head in. Mai walked over, slammed the door in her face, locked it, and sat back down.

"Ozai's bad luck got worse," Mai continued. "They somehow managed to find another person we thought was a non-factor, someone we'd forgotten about. The most influential Earth kid in the school."

"Toph Beifong," Zuko said.

Azula nodded. "As long as she was an alcoholic, drug-addled, blind problem child, we didn't have to worry about her. Same as we didn't have to worry about the Hatoris when Katara was nerdy and had no self-esteem and Sokka's lacrosse team kept putting him down. But Aang does things to people. He lifts them up. So suddenly we've got two furious Water District kids who won't back down and a blind She-Hulk with enough money to _buy_ the Fire District. We tried to take those four down by burning the Hatori's apartment and cutting Toph off from her parents, but the Hatoris didn't give up, and our sources say that Toph's parents, as furious as they are that we outed her, are starting to get remorseful and want their daughter back. And Lao Beifong is a ruthless businessman. If he finds out we were behind them, he'd financially fuck over the Fire District so bad we would never get back on our feet. It was never supposed to get this bad."

"Why has Ozai not just killed Aang yet?" Zuko asked.

"Don't you get it?" Mai snapped. "He _can't_! The death of Yue Misong was a disaster, we can't afford to throw another kid in jail and keep compromising our reputation. The law's onto us as it is. The capitol couldn't do anything to stop the invasion of the Air District, but they're building up their own money and influence, bankrolled by Earth and Water, to make sure it doesn't happen again. He can't kill Aang! It would throw the whole force of the other three districts against us, and we're not that powerful! Even worse, the four of them are together in that house – Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph. They probably didn't realize this, but when Katara, Sokka and Toph moved in, they became wards of the state too, which means we can't kill _them_ either! They're under as much protection as the last Air District people, so now we've got the four kids who could compromise us all living together, under one roof, with fucktons of money and government protection! Ozai's only hope is to beat them using above-ground methods, actually beating them at voting. Because of he doesn't, if they win – "

"It's a revolution," Zuko finished, his voice almost a whisper. "We lose our political power. Somehow, the people who stand a chance of resisting Fire hegemony are all together. When they graduate, they're going to keep fighting. If Ozai doesn't win, they can't invade the Water District. If Ozai doesn't win…"

"Azulon might very well kill him," Azula finished.

The clock ticked in silence. Outside the door, the doctors and nurses kept yelling for them to open the door, but the four of them just sat together, breathing and thinking.

"This was never supposed to happen," Mai said. "Four Nations High School was just another high school before this year. But Aang Nomad opened our eyes to the power of that generation, the power of people _our_ age. So it's all playing out here, at our high school. And we have to decide what we're going to do about it."

Zuko's hands shook like leaves in the wind over the hospital bedsheet. The smoke from the incense curled up into the still air. He looked at his sister, at her blank face, the same blank face she had at her mother's funeral.

"Well, Zula?" He asked. "What are we going to do about it?"

Her golden eyes were dulled. But he knew there was still fire deep in her that no broken arm, no internal tearing could bring down.

"You know what we have to do," he said. "That's why you were raped, wasn't it? To keep you quiet?"

She looked at him from underneath her eyelashes.

"Was that why they killed Mom?" he whispered, realization washing over him like cold water.

For a split second her eyes reached across the hospital bed to touch him.

Then the doctors finally busted in and kicked the three of them out, yelling about respecting hospital policies. The drive back home was silent, even for Ty Lee. But when Mai dropped him off at his house, she gave him the same look Suki had given him.

_Now that you know the truth…it's your duty to fight with us._

Zuko knew it. He stood in the driveway of his mansion for a few minutes, just thinking about how much he knew it. He knew the truth, the whole hideous, ugly, shitty truth.

He took a moment to touch the scar over his eyes. By now most people didn't really talk about it, let it sink into the weird persona surrounding Zuko Agni. But thinking back to the night when he'd received that scar, and suddenly it all made more sense. His whole bloody family history made sense now. He'd spoken out of line. He'd been punished. Just like Azula and his mother. But those days were over.

He walked into the house and went straight to his father's study, where he opened the door without knocking.

Ezain turned around, his eyes already narrowed. "Zuko, I told you not to come in here – "

"I figured it out," he proclaimed. His father's whole study was done in traditional Fire District red, which at least served to give him some measure of strength. "Or, Mai and Azula told me. Either way, I know."

Ezain gave a throaty, brief laugh before leaning back in his leather chair and staring at Zuko as an equal for the first time. "Well, I suppose now you know. Was that all?"

"No," Zuko said, furious that his father was so ready to dismiss him, put his son down like he always had. "No, that's not all. It's bullshit. Your plan, is bullshit." Now Ezain's eyebrows went down. "This whole…Ozai invading the Water District so you can do the Earth District, and killing Yue, and because Ozai's the golden boy he's just allowed to _rape_ my sister whenever he feels like it – "

"Are you just upset that Ozai didn't tell you about this himself?" Ezain asked.

Zuko froze. He honestly hadn't thought about that – it wasn't like he and Ozai had exactly been close lately – but that idea hit him like a punch in the gut. Why hadn't Ozai tol him about this? They had been really close friends not too long ago. _Did Ozai know the truth about his mother and never tell him?_

"Did you kill Mom?" he blurted. He'd planned on doing this traditionally, finding out about the invasion and everything else, but suddenly the truth was right there and he had to know.

Ezain rolled his tongue around in his mouth, staring at his teenaged son like seeing him for the first time.

"No," he finally answered. "I'm not that heartless."

A hidden knot loosened itself in Zuko's chest. "But you know who did."

Ezain curled one lip.

"It was for the movement," Zuko said. "She was talking out of turn. Questioning your motives. Same with Azula, that's why she was raped. She had too much power. She had to go."

Ezain just sat there, as silent as Azula was. Why did nobody seem upset about everything that had happened?

"General Azulon killed your mother," he said. Zuko's heart dropped. He'd had dinner at Ozai's house a thousand times. He knew General Azulon. He'd come to his school functions, patted him on the back and told him he was like a son. "They didn't tell me he was going to do it. I had a feeling. I'm told it was painless. But there was nothing to do but go on."

"Nothing to do?" Zuko whispered. "_Nothing to do?_ She was _murdered_, and you had nothing to do but sit on your ass and let Azulon continue to fuck over other people's lives? My mom died for no reason and you keep thinking that you want to dedicate your life to Fire District hegemony?"

"I imagine you wouldn't know," he said coldly, "being born without ambition as you were. But your sister understands. This is about being given the ability to remake the world as we want it, in our image. It would be a sin if the Fire District does not use our innate power to do away with the capitol and spread our message to the rest of the nations."

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Zuko said, his voice bordering on hysterical. "Do you hear yourself right now? _What_ innate power? The power to make other people's lives miserable? You honestly think that without the capitol that this world would be any better? Are you seriously that stupid? Cause I know people who've been hurt by us, I know Aang Nomad and the Hatoris and Toph Beifong and _Suki Kyoshi_, you killed her family, and I've drank with them and watched you guys destroy them, and I'm not stupid enough to think that anybody else in charge of the District is gonna do any better!"

Ezain shook his head, unfazed by the outburst. "This is why I didn't tell you. Azula warned me you wouldn't understand, and she was right. She's the only one who's willing to see this through."

"Yeah? Check again. She's got a broken arm and a ripped vagina and the deadest eyes you've ever seen. She's the one who told me this. I don't think she's too keen on the plan now."

"That's a shame," Ezain said. "Ozai shouldn't have gone too hard with her. Well, I suppose this leaves you."

"Leaves me what?"

"To be my right-hand man as we implement Fire District strategy."

And then he actually smiled. And Zuko was suddenly confronted with everything he'd ever wanted – a chance at his father's approval, to suddenly be the loved child for once, to know what every other kid felt, the love of a parent.

But it was his sister's eyes that stopped him.

He'd never be able to look her in the eyes if he stood by.

"Tough shit," Zuko said. "Mai and Ty Lee and I know the truth. We've seen it. We're not putting up with this anymore. We're out."

"What are you saying?" Ezain said, frowning.

"I'm going to help get Aang elected as Prom King," Zuko said, standing tall. "And after that…I'm…I'm going to work against the Fire District in any way I can. Stop you guys from destroying any more lives."

"Good luck," Ezain sneered. "You won't have any friends after this. How is an outcast like you going to convince anybody to vote for a doomed cause?"

"I've got Mai and Ty Lee," he replied. "And I've got Azula, for maybe the first time in my life. And I see through you. Aang's gonna bring you down. And I'm gonna help him."

He turned on his heel and left, a weird smile on his lips.

"Don't expect to live in this house after that!" Ezain yelled. "Don't expect me to pay for shit!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Zuko called back, running to his room. The servants stared at him, but he packed his bags with an elation that he hadn't felt in years. The deed was done, he was free, all of the bullshit, putting up with Ozai, it was done, and he was one of the fucking good guys!

"Fuck yeah!" he whispered. Then he realized he didn't have to be proper anymore. "FUCK YEAH!" he screamed, through clothes into his suitcases. The servants whispered behind closed doors and he heard the door to his father's study slam shut, but he just kept packing, trying to throw together everything essential to him as a human being, knowing he was broke as fuck but it didn't matter, he was Batman and the universe was Bane, and this shit was going _down_!

He ran whooping through the house, slamming doors and smashing vases, and drove off in his red Mustang (that his grandparents had bought him in his own name, thank God) with the music blaring.

The bubble burst when he got a call on his cell phone.

"Hello?" He said breathlessly, mashing the volume button.

"Nice going, fuckface," Mai snapped.

"What?"

"Your dad called me and Ty Lee's parents – shut _up_, Mom – and guess who else is on the streets now?"

"Oh, shit," he said, his face dropping. "I'm so sorry, Mai."

She sighed. He could practically hear the cigarette on her lips as he heard the hurried sounds of packing. "Well, whatever. It was bound to happen. If I miss my baby brother's first real words because of you – Dad, _God_, I'm leaving, will you calm down – don't call me that! I'm gonna murder you, Zuko Agni."

"Where are you going?" He said, suddenly realizing that he didn't exactly have a place to go, either. This was a terribly thought-through plan.

"Ty Lee's older sister Sakura has an apartment in the city. There's enough room for us to crash on the couch. And this is the radical sister, the family's barely talking to her either, so we'll be safe."

"There's no way I could – ?"

"Definitely not," Mai snapped. "You're in bigger shit than we are. Me and Ty Lee's dads are important, but your dad is Azulon's second-in-command. I'm amazed someone hasn't already tried to shank you yet. You'd be putting Sakura in danger."

Oh, my God. The dark streets somehow seemed so much more menacing. "Well, where am I supposed to go?"

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you decided to go all fuck-the-police and bite the hand that's feeding us, huh? Guys, I _am_ leaving – okay, yes, I'm such a disappointment, I know – I'll smoke if I want, you dipshits, they're my lungs! Okay, bye, Tom-Tom, love you – HE'S MY GODDAMN LITTLE BROTHER, I'LL KISS HIM IF I WANT TO!"

"Mai, what am I going to do?" He repeated.

"Zuko," she said, and suddenly he background noise dropped out as the door was slammed shut behind her. "You know where the fuck you have to go. It's the only place safe. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to pick up a completely hysterical Ty Lee, drive out to east-Jesus nowhere to live in a shitty apartment, and attempt to deal with the fact that my entire privileged life just got fucked in the ass all because _you_ decided to have a soul for once." She paused. "Not that I don't agree with this…fuck it, I am _distraught_. And sober. Which is a huge problem. Text me later." She hung up.

Zuko shut his cell phone and was pressed with silence for the first time since his outburst. The consequences of this act bore down on him. Mai and Ty Lee kicked out as well, Ozai will be furious, he was a pariah of the Fire District now…what the hell was going to happen now?

Whatever happened, it wouldn't be because his dad forced him, or Azula, or Ozai…it would be because of _him_. What he wanted, what he believed in, standing on his own feet when the lightning struck, taking it all on his own.

He pressed a button and let the top roll down on his convertible. And the warm spring air rushed over his face as he punched one hand in the air and drove through the dark streets.

* * *

"So that's how I got here," Zuko finished, looking out over the living room full of shocked faces. "And I guess I'm asking if I can live here too. Cause now that I've broken out, the Fire District is probably going to come after me, and living here will give me the protection. But in return – in return, I'm going to work to convince the upperclassmen and the Fire kids to vote for you. Cause you have to win. You just have to."

He turned to Grandfather, who had a slight frown on his face. I looked over to Katara, who had her hands pressed to her mouth.

"Well, son," Grandfather said, standing up, "It takes a brave man to stand up to his family like that. Your father destroyed a lot of lives, including mine – but perhaps you can all work to resolve some of that, together."

Then he pulled Zuko into a hug, which made Zuko look incredibly uncomfortable.

"You can call me Grandfather," he said with a smile.

The rest of us jumped up and piled on the hug, as Zuko tried to shift away.

"Being part of the group means being a part of group hugs," Katara said, squeezing even tighter.

"I'm glad to have you, Zuko," I said with a smile.

We pulled apart and Toph punched Zuko on the arm with a big smile. He turned to us, and we mouthed 'show of affection.' Finally he turned to Sokka.

"Looks like we're roomies, bro," he said, hands on his hips.

"Guess so," Zuko said, offering a smile.

"There's only one bed, but I think there's a sleeping bag in the closet, we can take turns or whatever."

"Okay, yeah," Zuko said, looking shocked at this open acceptance from all of us. Sokka hefted up one of his bags and the two of them went down the hall to their room. The rest of us were standing in the living room, all grinning and beaming at the new turn of events, when we heard Sokka's voice loud and clear –

"So, how are we gonna work out masturbating?"

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed! A little humor to end a very intense chapter. That took me a lot longer than I planned; most hardcore chapters do, I guess. Anyway, I hope you guys liked the dramatic chapter! Expect more drama as this plays out, but next chapter I think we do a little Gaang bonding, something more fun :) Love you guys bunches and bunches! - PVB**

**PS. After like seven years on FF, I finally got a user pic. Lawl. Of course, it's Toph giving the finger ;) keep trucking, my loves!**


	24. Hell Hath No Fury

**Chapter Twenty-Four – Hell Hath No Fury**

* * *

I'm not a materialistic guy. I wear Birkenstocks most of the time. My most prized possessions are my dog and cat. I recycle. I pirate my music illegally (I have long since convinced myself that this means I'm a good person). Most of my shit got burnt when I was eleven, so since then I've pretty much been okay not valuing material possessions.

But even I have to admit…driving to school in Zuko's sweet red convertible Mustang was _epic_.

The first day that we didn't drive the Prius, Zuko let the top down, blasted 'Immigrant Song', and cruised into the parking lot glaring at everyone like a way more badass version of when Edward Cullen wraps his hands around Bella's shoulder in the parking lot. With him and Sokka in the front, Katara, Toph and I sat up on the back seat. Toph wore her black cap specifically for this occasion and smiled like a demon. Katara and I gave each other sneaky looks at our sudden burst in popularity. Azula wasn't there, but Ozai curled his lip next to his shiny red Porsche, and I knew we were still in the war.

Our popularity boost continued at lunch, when we all sat down only to discover Mai and Ty Lee walking towards us with lunch trays.

"Hi, guys!" Ty Lee squealed, sitting down next to us.

"We're sitting with you guys from now on," Mai stated, pulling out her Asian chicken salad and beginning to eat with an unaffected glance.

We all shared a glance. "Uh, hi…?" Sokka said.

"If you don't like us being here, blame Zuko," Mai said. "When he decided to go on his Ferris-Bueller-fuck-everything bender, he took us down with him. Don't worry, we're all in on this bringing Ozai down thing, but I do miss having money."

"You seem bitchier than usual today," Suki observed.

"My fucking AP Lit professor stole my cigs," she grunted. "I need nicotine."

"I really think you should stop that," Ty Lee squeaked.

Mai shot her a deathglare and continued to plow into her salad. "So how's convincing the Fire kids going?"

Zuko exhaled and gave his emo-kid stare into the distance. Sokka and I shared a look and a chuckle. "They're not really listening to me. Not sure why."

"Cause Ozai's the scariest fuck this side of Texas," Sokka mumbled.

"I'm scary," Zuko protested. "I have a giant scar on my face!"

"I have scars in places you don't want to know about," Suki said casually, not looking up.

"Sounds like something I'd like to be in the middle of," Sokka said.

Toph snapped her head up, her brows furrowed, and Katara and I shot each other glances before Mai suddenly barked –

"June!"

We all turned to look. June Hyungteo, the girls' varsity basketball coach, was coming out of the gym, wearing her usual black leather ensemble and pulling out a packet of cigarettes. According to Sokka, every year there was a rumor that the school was going to fire her, due to her terrifying red arm tattoos, cigarette addiction and horrible mouth, but seeing as our girls' basketball team was coming off of its tenth straight All-Nation win, every year they found it in their hearts to let her stay.

She narrowed her eyes at us. "Mai?"

Mai jumped up with a look of excitement I'd never seen on her face. "Can I bum a cigarette?"

June crossed her arms. "You know I'm not supposed to give kids cigs."

"Seriously, I'm dying."

"You know, this is why you weren't as good at freshman year basketball as you could have been. Your lung function sucked."

"Okay, Hypocrite Hattie, can we skip the lecture and get to the nicotine?"

June gave her a once-over, and then finally pulled a cigarette from the packet. Mai almost whimpered in relief. June flicked her lighter on, and Mai lit up and took a deep drag with a noise that I will forever associate with a woman orgasming.

Then June turned to us, leaning up against the wall.

"You're the kids trying to beat Ozai Kai," she said.

I nodded.

"How's that going?"

"Uh…" I said. "I mean, not terrible…we're getting votes…"

"We're having trouble with the upperclassmen," Sokka said. "They aren't really getting on the bandwagon."

"Maybe it's because you're not _tough_," she said, blowing smoke out through her dark lips.

"_Excuse_ me?" Toph said.

She looked at us through the curtain of black hair covering one eye. "Look, I'm all for you. I've been ass-fucked by the Fire District too. I'm just saying, if it's a matter of life or death, I might feel like it's not worth it to rock the boat over an adorable bald kid, his nerdy girlfriend, and Ozai's ex-best friend."

She flicked her cigarette on the ground and said, "Maybe you should think about going on the offensive," before walking away, leaving the rest of us shell-shocked.

"I am _tough_!" Toph grunted, crossing her arms. "My fucking name sounds like 'tough'."

"I'm in a gang," Suki said, curling her lip.

"I carry around knives," Mai muttered.

"I am _not_ nerdy!" Katara said, obviously flustered.

"Well, _I'm_ adorable!" Ty Lee said, throwing her hands in the air and smiling.

The bell rang as the rest of us got up and joined in on our first rendition of 'Goddamn it, Ty Lee' – a phrase that would be repeated often in our friendship.

Our luck didn't continue. We had the Water kids, thanks to Yue's death, and Toph had most of the Earth kids, but the older Fire kids were just not listening. All of the negotiations seemed to take place under Ozai's smirk. He seemed to follow us around more.

"And he hasn't come after you?" Mai asked at lunch a few days later.

Zuko shook his head. "Nah, and the maids told me he hasn't shown up at the house either. I don't know what he's doing."

"He knows he's got it pretty well covered," Sokka mumbled.

"But he hasn't come after _you_?" Mai asked.

"Me?" Sokka said. "Why would he come after me?"

"You and your sister."

"What would Ozai want with us?" Katara frowned.

Mai shrugged and puffed on her cigarette (she informed us that she'd taken to hiding them in her bra). "I don't know, maybe finishing business."

Now all of us were listening. "What business?" I said slowly.

Mai looked at all of us and lowered her eyebrows a little. "I mean…you know…"

All of our blank faces told her we assuredly did not know.

She sat up and slumped her shoulders. "Okay, so you know my dad's a big businessman, right?"

Assorted nods.

"Well, we kinda bankroll the Fire District's conquests and stuff. I'm the oldest, so they really wanted me to take over. And my dad took me through all the records…Zuko, you really don't know where I'm going with this?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said.

Mai made a frustrated sound and said, "Look, we bankrolled the last excursion into the Southern Water District, ten years ago."

Katara sat up, her back stiff.

"And it was just an exploratory mission, kinda scoping it out, seeing how easy it would be to conquer. Most of the trip was cheap, we just had hotels and stuff. Most of the expenses came from…well, Azulon kinda…he lost it, he was frustrated and upset, they hadn't won over the Air District yet…so he saw the Chief's wife out walking…and he shot her."

A blanket of anger and shock had settled over all of us. Sokka looked shocked, his eyes huge. And Katara's face had somehow morphed into brown marble – no emotion or feeling.

"Three times through the head. A few people saw his face, so we had to pay them off to keep quiet, buy off the police…he's never been charged with it though." She looked up with a tinge of emotion in her black eyes. "I really thought you guys knew."

Oh, my God.

What to even say?

I'd never seen Katara look like that. Her mouth was turned straight down, her bright blue eyes narrowed and furious, her whole face devoid of feeling. Sokka was breathing deeply, attempting to process the information. We all sat in silence for a few minutes before the door slammed and June came out again, yawning and stretching and reaching for her cigarettes.

Katara was up before we even knew it.

"You were talking about going on the offensive," she said, walking right up to Jun, who raised an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"

June looked around at all of our freaked out faces and said, "Uh…I don't know…I was just saying maybe you ought to go mess him up, at his house or something."

"Like TPing?" Katara asked.

June scoffed and looked at her cute blue sundress and strappy sandals. "No, sugarcakes. Gang shit."

Suki immediately perked up. "You're in a gang."

"Used to be," June said, shifting her arms. The thick red snake tattoos on her shoulders stood out. "But I came clean a few years back."

"What would it take to convince you to go black, just for one night?" Katara said.

"What did _you_ have in mind?"

"Royally _fucking_ Azulon's mansion."

I was getting freaked out. This wasn't my Katara. Her fists were clenched, her voice was low. Even from the back, I could see that the muscles in her back were tight and knotted. I'd never seen her like this.

June, however, looked at Katara's furious face and said, "I got a score to settle with Azulon. I may or may not have done a lot of time in a labor camp back in the day cause that asshole decided to play god with the police department of the Earth District. I'll be by your grandpa's house at midnight on Saturday. Suki, I assume you know what we need?"

"_Fuck_ yeah," Suki replied, the old Kyoshi Warrior gleam back in her eyes.

She gave a crooked, toxic smile. "It's a date."

She walked away. Katara turned to us, her eyes literally blazing out from her face, daring any of us to speak out.

Apparently we were now in a gang.

* * *

Saturday night was tense. Not only was it dark in the house, but the usual incessant chatter from Katara and Toph's room was silent. They played Jessie J quietly from their room and didn't talk. Eventually it was just Zuko, Sokka and I sitting on my bed. Sokka looked apprehensive, Zuko steely. They both wore black hoodies, jeans and boots. Seeing as my entire wardrobe was what Sokka (pretty accurately) described as 'pussy shit', I had to wear some of Sokka's boots, which were a size and a half too big. I looked at myself in the mirror, the hat I was wearing to cover my baldness, and was entirely unsure of whether we should actually be doing this.

Suki arrived at 11:35, which made Sokka _much_ less apprehensive. She was in her full girl gang regalia – painted face, long black skirt with slits and boots, her green bandana over the top of her head, big gold hoops. She was lugging a bag that made weird clanking noises.

"What's in there?" I asked.

"Oh, you know…A baseball bat, some knives, lighter fluid, couple crowbars, cherry bombs, some brass knuckles…left the gun at home, I figured June would have that covered."

Sokka, Zuko and I stared.

She gave us a smile. "You can take the girl out of the gang, but you can't take the gang out of the girl. You guys wanna fuck shit up or not?"

Sokka certainly looked like he wanted to fuck Suki's shit up. She had a belly-baring shirt with a navel ring that sure did look saucy. The door opened and Katara walked out.

"Okay, guys, ready to – oh, hey, Suki!"

"The _fuck_ you wearing?" Suki groaned.

"What?" Katara looked down. She had on a white t-shirt and her favorite blue jeans.

"This is gang warfare, not the cover of goddamn Tiger Beat!" Suki snapped, pushing her back down the hall. "Wardrobe reboot. Toph, how did you let her leave wearing this?"

"If her clothes come with Braille guides, then you can ask me," she replied, turning to us with her arms crossed. Something about this gang war was making all of our girls not look like themselves. Somehow Toph had managed to look even scarier than usual. Her long black hair was falling down her chest, held back by a black bandana over her forehead. She'd ripped holes in her black t-shirt and had on her shorts, ripped fishnets and tall Doc Martens. Even better, she'd drawn two black lines on each cheek with what looked like Sharpie. The fact that the lines weren't straight somehow made her look even more sinister.

"I'm scared," I finally admitted.

"If you're not valuable to Ozai or Azulon, you don't have anything to worry about," Katara muttered, watching Suki dig through her closet, throwing various black articles of clothing on the bed.

"Jesus, Katara, what are you wearing?" Zuko had apparently let Mai and Ty Lee in, and even they were dressed to the nines. Mai had swapped her usual Gothic attire for even _more_ Gothic attire – low slung black pants with all the buckles and straps, a meshy black top that ended in fingerless gloves, showing her red bra, her hair done in a bun with two chopsticks. Ty Lee had her hair in two braids down the front and a black dress with ballet flats, which was pretty much the best we could expect from her.

"Okay, well, I'm sorry I didn't have a childhood filled with gang violence like the rest of you!" Katara snapped. "I was just – "

"It's strategic," Suki said, rifling through Toph's closet now. "Black is harder to see in the dark. We might get arrested for this, so we can't take chances. Everything with a penis – _out_."

Suddenly the three of us were pushed out as the five girls converged in the room, where we stared at each other. There was a knock on the door.

It was June. She was wearing her usual attire, but it was somehow even more terrifying than all the girls.

"Yo," she said.

"Come on in," I said, "we're waiting for Katara to get dressed."

She rolled her eyes and said, "Last time I work with amateurs. One of you know where this shit is?"

"I do," Zuko said. "It's in Ignis Acres."

"Oh, I'm right by there. That's easy. Come on, girl, witching hour's gonna be over before you're ready."

Finally the girls emerged, Katara in the lead. I wasn't sure whether to be massively turned on or incredibly terrified. She had her black skinny jeans, a pair of Toph's old combat boots, and a black t-shirt cut off to be practically off the shoulder, her bra straps showing. A pair of tall fingerless gloves covered her arms, and her hair was down in a low ponytail. But the makeup killed it – just thick, winged eyeliner, and one thick black stripe on each cheek. The way her eyes looked, staring down at me…I could suddenly see the six-year-old girl, coming home to discover her mother had been shot.

"Let's do this," Katara said.

The night air was cold when we walked outside. "So whose car are we taking?" Sokka asked.

"Mine, obviously," June said, pointing. My eyes bugged out. I hadn't even noticed the pitch-black Hummer truck sitting in front of my house.

"This is Nyla," she said, pulling out her keys. "She's as quiet as a kitten with the power of fifty lions. I used the hush money my old gang paid me to get her custom made." She clicked the keys and hopped up into the driver's seat, patting the steering wheel briefly. "It seats six, so three of you go in the bed. Suki, you can put your shit in there."

Suki threw her bag of goodies in the back and hopped up into the car. Toph went straight for the back, grinning wildly, and I grabbed Katara and pulled her in too, where we settled down between cans of spray paint and metal baseball bats. Everyone else loaded up, and June rolled the windows down and blared out old-school Muse, managing to invigorate my already electrified heart.

Toph stood up, her hands resting on the cab, the wind whipping at her long hair. Katara leaned off the sides, her elbows hanging out, and stared ahead. The streetlights flashing in her eyes made her seem so much more sinister.

"Katara?" I asked, having to yell a little over the wind.

She turned to me. "Don't try and talk me out of this, Aang."

"I'm just worried about you."

She turned her head back forward. "I've spent my whole life laying down and taking it from the Fire District like I was a goddamned hooker. It's their turn to get ass-fucked by _me_."

Even Toph had to turn around, her white eyes shining.

"Goddamn," she murmured.

We came up on the gated community, with its misleading water fountain. Zuko punched in the entrance code, and June killed the music and lights and barked at the three of us to get down. We drove through darkened neighborhoods with Katara, Toph and I peeking our heads out like criminals as Zuko whispered instructions to June. Finally we arrived at a gigantic house in ivory brick, surrounded by a massive security gate.

June shut off the motor and jumped out. "No guard."

"No," Zuko said, as we all got out. "They don't really trust them. But there is a lock on the gate."

"Well, how the hell are we gonna get over it?" Sokka muttered.

"Me!" Ty Lee said, throwing her hand in the air like she was answering a question in class.

"You?" June said with a raised eyebrow.

In the darkness, we could barely see Ty Lee's smile. "Sure! Watch this."

And then, before any of us could say anything, she walked up to the intimidating iron gate. It must've been fifteen feet tall. Without even hesitating, she gripped the bars and climbed right up like a monkey, those tiny arms somehow ridiculously strong. Then she reached the top, flipped over and landed in a crouch like a gymnast.

"See?" she said, standing back up.

"Well, shit," June mused.

"This is why I keep her around," Mai said.

"Okay, go to the security panel, and put your name in as Zuko Agni. Passcode is 5767," Zuko said.

"Got it!" Ty Lee chirped, running over to the panel set into the ivy-covered wall. In a moment, the gates opened up, and June jumped in and drove Nyla the Hummer into the giant driveway. None of us noticed.

"Holy _fuck_," Sokka whispered.

Just from the front this place was amazing. A beautifully manicured lawn, interspersed with white marble statues and fountains. Several sets of expensive golf clubs leaning up against the cars. The cars – oh, my Lord, a bunch of smaller sedans near the front of the house, a couple of trucks, the red Porsche I recognized as Ozai's, and –

"That can't be a real Maserati," Sokka whispered, walking up to the slick silver car. I seriously considered making love to this car.

"It's a GranTurismo," Zuko muttered. "Azulon's baby."

"In that case," Katara said, her eyebrows furrowed, "it's going down."

June walked up, carrying two sacks of goodies. Her eyes were trained to the silent mansion, no lights on anywhere. "Odds are this neighborhood's got guards, so we're gonna have to be quick. So what's it gonna be?"

"Cars," Katara said immediately. "Cars, fountains, grass. Anything we can get our hands on."

June smirked and handed Katara a metal baseball bat. She weighed it in her hand for a second, and then walked towards the Maserati –

"Hold the fuck up, Shawshank!" She snapped. "We need to disable the alarm. Otherwise you're gonna wake the whole damn neighborhood up." She turned to Suki with disdainful eyes. "Do you know how to do this?"

"Of course," Suki snapped. She went in her bra and pulled out pliers and a screwdriver. "What the hell kind of a _chola_ do you think I am?"

"Alright, Jesus, whatever. We're gonna do them at the same time, Maserati and Porsche. Katara and someone are gonna break the driver's side windows – "

"I'll do it," Zuko said, finding his own bat and throwing it over his shoulder. "He murdered my mother too."

"Whatever. Break it good, so we don't cut ourselves too much getting in. Kyoshi and I will go in, disable the alarm, and then this place is your piñata."

Katara was set. Her boots crunched on the gravel as she walked over to the Maserati, June behind her. Zuko and Suki moved to the Porsche. I couldn't believe we were actually doing this. I reached out and managed to find Toph's hand and squeeze tight.

"On three," June said. "One – two – three – "

Katara and Zuko swung with all their might at the windows as glass rained down and alarms screeched out. Suki and June furrowed in like weasels, and after a few terrifying seconds, first one, then the other alarm went silent.

"Get the fuck down!" June whispered.

We dropped to the ground and waited for lights to come on in the mansion. None did. A car drove by, but apparently didn't notice the Hummer, and kept driving. After a few minutes, June stood up and smiled.

"Let's play."

Katara stood up, holding the bat like it was her lifesaver. With a pursed chin, she walked right up to the Maserati and smashed the front window with a grunt of pure rage. From there, it all went downhill.

I couldn't help myself. Something about that night, all of us in our dark clothes, carrying all kinds of illegal shit, the fact that we managed to actually break into Zuko's mansion – I didn't feel like myself. For a night, I didn't want to. I grabbed a bat and went up to the Maserati with Katara, breaking windows, smashing headlights, the noise throbbing through my chest. Mai pulled out one of her knives and slashed giant X's in the four tires. June, with an ecstatic smile, was tearing out the leather seats with a crowbar. Zuko, Ty Lee and Sokka were fucking shit up on the Porsche, right ahead of us. It felt like a badass guitar riff was roaring through my soul.

Meanwhile, Toph had grabbed a hammer and bat and walked over to the statues, smiling when she found them. She jumped up on the fountain, soaking her feet, and felt around on the face before wedging the sharp end of the knife in the statues' sightless eyes. Then with a mighty swing, she wedged the hammer right into the face with a resounding crack. She gave her devil grin again. Another few swings and the statue crumbled in a shower of white dust, coating her whole body and making her look like some kind of cocaine angel. She threw her fists in the air, bat and hammer in hand, and said loud and clear,

"This is for taking me away from my family!"

"Yeah," Katara said, her mouth in a set line as she smashed another mirror. The Maserati was almost unrecognizable from her consistent beatdowns. "_This_ is for killing my mother."

"_This_ is for my mother and sister," Zuko said, taking one of the golf clubs and bending it in half over the broken windshield of the Porsche.

"_This_ is for my brother," Mai muttered, slashing the tires of one of the trucks, her arms tense under her shirt.

"_This_ is for my family, my village," Suki said as she smashed headlights.

"_This_ is for Zhao trying to rape me," Ty Lee said, her voice teary, as she jumped up and down on the cab of the truck, crushing it inward.

"_This_ is for my parents," I growled, keying one of the other cars. "And my people."

"_This_ is for my mother and Yue," Sokka said, cracking off one of the side mirrors with a bat and a frown.

"_This_ is for my family and crew," June murmured, and we all turned around in shock at the sadness in her voice. She was ripping the tops off of all the convertibles with a crowbar. "I miss you guys every day."

The rage bubbled up like acid in my throat, and I keyed the cars with all the strength in my arms. I would never be able to bring back my parents. But maybe I could finally sleep at night.

Sokka saw Toph struggling her way across the grass to the other statue and ran up to help her.

"Hey, Socks," she said, shying away from him a little.

"I don't know how I feel about this," he admitted as they walked up to the next statue. Toph bounded up and wedged the hammer in, her face hidden by her hair.

"I thought you'd be all for it. Not every day you get to see Suki looking slutty."

"_Toph_, that's not…look, you know we're kind of a thing, or…whatever…"

"I guess so," she said, with a ferocious swing. Sokka shielded his face from the dust. "I mean, we did fuck."

"Toph – "

"Let's talk about this when we're not participating in illegal activities, huh? Give me a boost, this fucker's going down like Rome."

He grabbed her fishnetted calves and hoisted her up, and she tossed her hair back before slamming a death blow into the head of the statue. The collapse made her and Sokka fall on top of each other, which made Sokka smile a little, but she rolled off and immediately shook the white out of her hair.

"Let's go. Lots of hardware to destroy."

The moon circled overhead as we continued on our streak of destruction. Every car got fucked up in some way. Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee were brave enough to go on the porch and bring down the expensive potted plants, vases and lawn furniture for us to fuck up. My arms were sore and sweat was pooling under my baseball cap, but it felt like I was getting leeched, every pain and rage bleeding out of me.

Eventually the nine of us had to stop. Everything in sight was destroyed, but we were all still restless.

"We need more," Katara said.

"There's nothing left," June said.

"Yes, there is." Her face was still set like stone. "We can torch the Maserati."

We all turned to look at her.

"We can show him how it feels to have something you love go up in flames."

Who was this girl? Where was Katara? Even Sokka looked really freaked out. She didn't meet any of our eyes. Just stood there with her hands on her hips, blood and sweat running down her arms.

"Okay," June said after a pause. "I'll be right back."

We all took a tense breather while June jumped in the Hummer and drove off, still without the lights. Ten minutes later she arrived with the bed of her truck filled with firewood. After Suki, June and Zuko broke into the Maserati again and switched it into neutral, we pushed it right into the center of the lawn, over the broken statues. We built up firewood under and in it, and June poured lighter fluid over the whole car with a sinister look.

"After this, we're gonna have to ride," she said. "This flame is sure to wake everyone."

We nodded, and then each grabbed a can of red spraypaint for our final message. We spent ten minutes writing our message in the grass, big enough for Azulon to see it from his roof. Then we all gathered around the car, sitting like a chicken in a slaughterhouse.

June pulled out a pack of matches and handed it wordlessly to Katara. Her blue eyes were filled with tears. She stood straight and tall as she lit up a match and chucked it into the front seat.

The fire roared up immediately, crackling and lighting up the whole gory scene, glass and marble and cars sitting on deflated tires with windows busted like gaping mouths with jagged teeth. We watched our glory for a second before piling into Nyla and driving off into the night. I held Katara's hand and thought forward to the morning when Ozai would look out his window and see what we'd bled into the grass –

**FOR KYA**

* * *

**Wooooo a badass chapter! Which was so necessary, since my life has lately been feeling like the beginning of Fight Club. My job as a secretary for a tax firm, while awesome because it pays for my tea and booze addictions as well as my rent for this summer, is turning me into a corporate America zombie living off of coffee and failed dreams. Which, as we all know, is a fate worse than death. This chapter pays homage to the summer after my senior year of high school, when me, my brother and some of our friends formed a TP gang called the Frisky Five that wreaked havoc over the greater Tucson area. We even made it on the news. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.**

**Thanks for reading! Even if you don't review, you're reading, and I really appreciate it :) next one will be up soon! Drinking myself into a stupor tonight because my March Madness team lost - PVB**


	25. Oh No

**Chapter Twenty-Five – Oh No**

* * *

"The house of Azulon Kai, the very influential Fire District general, was vandalized in the late hours of Saturday night by what appears to be an unknown group of gang members…"

Our destruction played out in the broad hours of daylight on the news. I hadn't realized just how much we'd managed to fuck up. All of the cars sat on deflated tires, glass covering the entire front lawn, chunks of marble and stone on the grass, and the gutted, blackened Maserati sat on a bed of wood above our ominous red words. The whole living room was silent as we watched.

"There are no fingerprints left at the scene, but the police will be investigating any leads for this blatant destruction of property. Anyone with information or any knowledge as to who or what 'Kya' is, is encouraged to contact the capital police department.

"Regarding the upcoming elections – "

"Kya was your mother's name, wasn't it," Grandfather said, looking at Katara and Sokka over his tea. The whole living room was silent.

Finally the siblings nodded. Katara hadn't managed to wash all of the eyeliner off her eyes, and the resultant raccoon look made her so much more approachable than the terrifying gang Katara of last night. Sokka just looked into his tea.

Grandfather sighed, turned off the TV, and looked over at us. "You know, I understand why you did it."

God, why did he have to figure things out so quickly? Why couldn't I have a grandpa like everyone else who was oblivious? Even Toph and Zuko were silenced.

"That man destroyed my people as well. We have all lost something to him." He petted Momo, who was sitting on his lap looking at all of us. "So I'm not going to get as mad at you as I probably should. I know none of your parents raised you this way – yes, even yours, Zuko, don't look at me like that – and you all know that this kind of behavior is not tolerated in my house."

Even when he wasn't yelling, the disappointment in his voice made us all bow our heads.

"But perhaps this was necessary for you. Perhaps this is a choice that you needed to make, some closure that I could not give you. I know very well how hard it is to be young and wronged by society, unable to take any decisive action in favor of your own fate."

He stood up, as Momo jumped down from his lap. "But I want you all to think very hard as to what this actually accomplished. Did it make you feel better? Maybe. Will it do anything to deter Ozai and Azulon? Probably not. If it wins you some more votes, I am happy for you. But I sincerely hope that it did not win you more votes at the compromise of your morals and reputations. After this, are you so different from what they have done to you?"

He picked up the teapot and left the room, padding down the house to his own wing, leaving the five of us to sit in silence and the light of a few candles.

"Goddamn it," Toph muttered.

"I feel like shit." Sokka threw his head against the chair.

Zuko groaned and rubbed his eyes. "Grandpa is _good_."

"Now do you guys understand why I'm such a goodie-goodie sometimes? Imagine _growing up_ with him."

"He's right," Katara said with a sigh, leaning her head on her hand. "That was really immature of us. We were acting like them."

"We shouldn't have done it," Toph said. "But I don't regret it."

After a moment, Katara shook her head. "Neither do I. I'm sure Mom's not happy with me, but at least _I_ feel better."

"I guess we won't know the real impact till Monday," Zuko said, as Momo moved over to his lap. Momo had certainly warmed up to him – between Zuko and Katara, I hardly got a chance to see my own cat anymore. Appa was less discriminatory. He was lying between Sokka and I, getting bellyrubs from both of us. "Maybe we did earn a few more votes."

"There's no one in school who doesn't know we did that," Sokka said.

"The question is," I said, "what's Azulon gonna do about it? Is he going to realize who Kya is?"

"Probably not," Zuko scoffed. "Like he'd remember one woman out of the hundreds he's probably killed."

"Aang's got a point," Katara said. "We might be in even deeper shit over this than we were before. What if he comes after us even more now?"

"We'll deal with that when it happens," Sokka said, his eyebrows narrowed. "We did it, it's done. If he comes after us, nothing we can do about it. All we can do now is take it like men."

"And women," Toph chimed in.

He rolled his eyes. "And women, whatever."

Toph aimed a punch at him, but kind of missed, prompting a smile. "Keep punching like that, and I'm gonna have even more reason to call you a girl."

This time, her crotch shot did not miss.

"How many people in this story are going to get punched in the testicles?" I wondered out loud as Sokka rolled around on the floor, moaning in pain.

"One more unless you shut up and go to bed," Katara said with a smile as she got up and blew out the candles.

**(Yes I did break the fourth wall. I'm the author this is Fanfiction I'm tired I do what I want FUCK THE POLICE)**

* * *

It really did feel like we were in a gang. When we pulled up in the Mustang, Suki, Mai and Ty Lee were waiting for us, leaning up against the walls. We hopped out, and I was relieved to see that without the cover of nighttime and our badass clothes, even Suki and Mai were looking a little confused or remorseful about their actions. Without hesitating with smalltalk, we all walked onto campus to see how the cards would fall.

Sokka was right – everyone knew it was us. Freshmen stared at us with a new level of fear; sophomores granted some more respect. The Earth kids seemed impressed; they all nodded at us when we passed. We split off when we got to our lockers, and all of us watched as Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee walked towards the Fire District lockers. The sharp-eyed Fire kids rolled their shoulders and watched them walk. I couldn't tell if there was disdain or admiration in their eyes. Ozai sat on his usual bench, surrounded by cronies, staring them down. I had no idea whether we'd won or not when everyone's eyes snapped to somewhere else.

Azula had finally arrived back on campus.

It felt like the school took a collective gasp. The whole Fire District section definitely froze. I can't tell you how strange it felt to see Azula, the obvious Regina George of our school, wearing a cast, not even bothering to hide the bruises on her neck, walking stiffly. Zuko hadn't elaborated on what happened to her, but Katara bit her lip and went down to whisper something in Toph's ear, which made her cross her arms too. Something was different about her – the way she held herself, the way she looked at all of us. There wasn't the sharp blade of fear beneath her bright gold eyes. It was dulled, clouded. She breathed deeply and stared around the silent patio. When she saw Ozai her nostrils flared like a dragon, and she walked right past him. Zuko and the girls stood up and waited to see if she would come to them. She paused a moment before Zuko, her eyes trying to reach his. It was just a moment before she walked right past them, not looking at us, vanishing off somewhere – where? Her uncle's classroom?

The bell rang and snapped us out of our trance. I shared a look with Katara before we headed off to class.

It was easy to forget that in the midst of all of our rebellion and drama and shoot-outs that we were still high school students, and we actually had schoolwork. Well, Katara never forgot, cause she's Katara, and Sokka didn't forget, because he had college applications to do. But the rest of us? Zuko was emotionally conflicted, Toph no longer gave a fuck about anything, and I was kind of busy getting shot. So suffice to say our grades hadn't exactly been stellar.

So that day I forced myself to stay awake through English and Math, because Mr. Pakku and Mr. Piandao were tough and I knew if I didn't pay attention I'd have a hell of a lot of homework. But I usually took third period, Ancient Cultures with Professor Zei, as my naptime. Unfortunately, we were talking about the Air District today. And as much as I loved learning about my culture, the problem was that I was expected to contribute scholarly research on the subject, with nobody fully understanding that I left the Air District when I was eleven and didn't really like talking about the fact that my entire goddamn culture was _burnt_.

"Founded on very peaceful principles…no standing army, in fact…most Air Nomads were practicing Buddhists, meaning they lived by a strict moral code as well as being vegetarians…was this true for your family, Aang?"

"Mhm, Professor…"

_Except for the part where my friends and I vandalized a Fire District home…you know…_

"…Got the title of Nomads from the fact that they normally rotated between the four major temples, or cities – North, South, East and West…isn't it funny that Aang's last name is Nomad?"

"Mhm, Professor…"

_Gotta ask Katara out to Prom soon…gotta do it before some other guy does it, like last time…I'm a rebel now, I damaged private property…means Haru should be scared of me, right?_

"Now, if you'll all take out your book on the Tu-Zhang language, we can see that the root of the ancient name of the Air civilization, 'aere', is based in fact on a now-defunct religion practiced by the Air District…"

_Don't fall asleep…don't fall asleep…_

"…Secret rooms in their temples, called 'ventilas'…"

_The fuck is he talking about…oh, God, so sleepy…don't fall asleep…Katara's boobs…_

"…Actually have one here at school, one of the founders built it – "

_Katara's boobs…wait, what?_

"What?" I said, snapping my head up.

Professor Zei smiled at me. He never got pissed at me for sleeping in class, because I was a 'living relic'. "I was saying how there actually is a traditional Air District temple chamber here at school. The school was founded by the union of representatives of each of the four districts, after all."

_Like Hogwarts?_ "Professor, where is this secret chamber?"

"I believe it's behind the science building...there should be a wheelchair ramp leading to it."

I felt more awake than I had all day. As soon as I left class, I sent a text to Katara.

_Going exploring during lunch. Don't wait for me_

I bought a bag of Skittles from the vending machine and headed away from our usual lunch spot on the patio, towards the science building. If there was going to be a secret air chamber, this would be the place to do it – most people were scared of the science building due to Professor Bumi's tendency to set the whole place on fire as a monthly routine. I scooted around back, avoiding the nerdy Science Olympiad kids, and found it, almost covered by ivy – an old wheelchair ramp, leading to a smaller, half-submerged building I had never noticed before. A little weird, since the Air Temples that I'd been to where always raised above the ground, but I still polished off my Skittles and went down the ramp.

I could hear the sounds of laughing and hollering and teenage raunchiness, so I was excited when I pushed open the door –

And had to gasp.

It was an Air Temple secret chamber, all right – I recognized the swirls on the ground, the skylights, and the large statue of a sky bison (some sort of flying cow – Air religions were weird). But the most distinctive part of any Air Temple, the gorgeous paintings depicting our history, were completely covered. All of the walls had been painted, pasteled, oiled, crayoned – barely any inch was recognizable. And there was a kid with a wheelchair in a Michelangelo-esque lift even painting the ceiling.

The progression of faces came pretty quick – they turned around to see me, saw my bald head, smiled, saw my angry face, and immediately froze.

"Oh, snap," the kid in the wheelchair said, "it's Aang Nomad!"

"You're damn right it is!" I said. "Why are you painting over the traditional Air District wall murals? Those are sacred to my people!"

All of the kids in there started shifting. They all looked young – freshmen and sophomores, like me. Definitely poorer; I recognized the type of clothing Katara and Sokka used to wear. The kid in the wheelchair lowered himself down with an impressive pully system and wheeled over to me. He had a shock of brown hair and a big smile.

"Dude, I am really excited to meet you. I've heard all about you!"

"And who are you?"

"I'm Teo," he replied with a smile. "I'm a sophomore too."

Despite the fact that one of my best friends was disabled, I was still unclear as to the politically correct way to look at people with disabilities – Toph didn't care if you stared at her eyes (or didn't care as long as you didn't _tell_ her you were staring at her eyes). But pretty soon I found I was the one blushing as my eyes kept flickering down to Teo's legs in the wheelchair. They certainly looked unfunctioning – they were limp and atrophied. I put my eyes back to his face, my Buddhist self embarrassed and knowing that Toph would kick my ass if I showed even the slightest sign of weirdness of people with disabilities. But Teo was cool. He saw me looking and explained,

"There was a flood when I was a little kid, back in the Earth District. Wiped out a lot of my village, and it killed my mom. I hit my head on a rock, and the spinal damage made me paraplegic. My dad and I had to move out here so he could make a living as a technician. I've been in this chair almost as long as I can remember."

"Dude, I'm sorry," I said. Ugh, now I felt like an asshole for being mad at this kid. He was _disabled_, for shit's sake.

"It's not your fault," he said brightly. "Hey – you're dating Katara Hatori!"

Any remaining animosity towards this kid pretty much vanished. The fact that I was dating Katara was school gossip? FUCK YES. "Yeah, I am. Do you know her?"

"Oh, yeah! I was in art class with her last year. She's incredible! She's the one who kind of encouraged me to pursue my own artistic style."

"Which would be painting over sacred murals?"

He shook his head. "Nah, man, and I'm sorry about that. Didn't really realize they were sacred. No, I'm kind of about painting beyond the canvas. Wall murals, rock painting. Using different backings, different mediums. Kind of makes me feel less restricted. I'm gonna be in this chair for the rest of my life, so why should I paint inside the lines?"

Yeah, that's _definitely_ something Katara would encourage.

"I found this place second semester last year. You know, this isn't a big art school, and they weren't really even willing to give me bigger canvases to use. So I kind of began using this as a canvas. We all did. None of us really fit in, you know. So this became our place."

I finally looked around. The paintings were definitely like nothing I'd ever seen. Instead of the clean lines and clear colors of Air painting, this art was messy, unfocused, blurred, with pulsing colors and sweeping strokes. There were different styles – some more Impressionistic in the corner, a whole side of the wall spray-painted in graffiti style, but all of it had a heartbeat, not just the people and animals whose faces peaked out, but even the abstract lines that covered much of the space, all of it folding in and exploding out, moving and bursting in deep blues, fierce purples, screaming reds. The few splashes of white were perfectly rendered, giving pause at points in the artwork. There was even one space where the Air paintings were not covered, and the serene bald head of an Air monk stared out from the chaos. He didn't look very pissed to me.

"I kind of used the air as an inspiration," Teo said. "You know, freedom. Movement. Independence. Abstraction. Letting it all kind of flow, riding the tides."

"Damn," I finally said after a pause. "I gotta admit…I really don't think the monks would be mad at this. In fact, I think they'd be kind of happy. This is what being an Air Nomad is all about."

I turned to him and said, "Would you mind if I brought my friends over tomorrow at lunch?"

"No problem," Teo grinned.

* * *

"Oh, _Teo_!"

Leave it to Katara. She set one foot in the Air chamber and immediately lost her mind. She walked around the room, babbling on and on in art lingo about how the juxtaposition of the chiaroscuro created an atmosphere of introspection and allowed for greater expression of the subliminal cortexes (can you tell I hadn't been paying any attention in Art class?). Then she immediately swooped down to give Teo a big hug and what kind of looked like a kiss on the cheek.

_It's okay_, I immediately thought, _she can't leave me for him, his junk probably doesn't work_.

Oh, my _God_. Asshole of the year award, right here. God, I could just see Grandfather shaking his head at me. I made a mental note to make some sort of burnt offering to make up for probably the most dickish thought I had ever had.

Mai actually smiled and didn't smoke inside so she didn't obscure the images, which was pretty much the highest compliment she could pay to a human being. Ty Lee giggled and flirted with Teo, and even Zuko looked reluctantly impressed. Apparently enough time with Mai had given him at least some sort of admiration for art.

Unfortunately, as we all knew would happen, this entire field trip was lost on Toph.

"So…we're supposed to be looking at colors?" She said, walking in.

"And painting," Sokka said. "It's so cool, Toph, there's like stuff swirling around and all these people…and _colors_…"

"I get that, Captain Obvious, _which_ colors?"

"Purple…blue…red…"

She sighed and ran a finger through her bangs. "Of course the three colors I don't remember," she muttered under her breath.

"Oh, Suki, look at that guy poking out! Doesn't he look like Grandpa?"

"No shit, he does! What's that cow thing?"

"He's got horns or something…his face looks just like a fatter version of Appa's though."

"Imagine if Appa had horns!"

The two of them burst into giggles while Toph stood stiffly. "Oh, sorry, dude, there's this like cow thing, with _six feet_…it really looks like Appa, it's super creepy – "

"Guys, come look at this one, there's a flying lemur! It's like our school mascot!"

Ty Lee grabbed them and they moved over to the other corner. Toph exhaled and leaned up against the wall, only to have a freshman yell –

"Wet paint!"

"Fuck," she grunted, standing up. "Sorry, bro." She reached over to tough the side of her shirt, and her fingers came back bright blue. "_Christ_." She wiped them on her shorts and had to cross her arms to keep her hands from falling on her wet shirt.

"You're blind," Teo said, coming up to her.

"An _excellent_ observation, Watson."

"No, dude, I mean, you can't tell, but I'm in a wheelchair."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? A fellow disabled?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She smirked. "Discuss to me your feelings towards the Disability Services Office."

"Hmm…a bunch of fucktards with little sympathy or respect for the disabled?"

It provoked a smile. "Whaddup, new best friend."

"I've heard of you. You do fighting. Like MMA."

"Undefeated champ."

"That's awesome. I think painting is kind of like my fighting, I guess."

Toph's face softened. "Want me to sit on the ground so you don't have to feel like I'm talking down to you?"

There was a pause, and Teo said, "Yeah, actually…that'd be cool."

Toph wiped off her fingers, plopped down on the ground, and started talking to Teo. I was just beginning to be pulled away by Katara to go study some of the other paintings (apparently they were ones Ms. Yangchen had talked about), but I saw Sokka realize that Toph wasn't with him, and pull away from Suki and Ty Lee to go find her.

He paused when he saw Toph and Teo on the ground, clearly shooting the shit, and when Toph actually laughed at something he said, I watched as his face fell in on itself, his eyebrows furrowing. He turned back to the wall, and I saw him take a good long look at the profile of Suki's pretty face.

When the bell rang, we all managed to extract ourselves from the gorgeous temple and head over to the main building, all of us gossiping and laughing as Toph and Sokka stayed uncharacteristically quiet. Just as we were about to part ways, Katara gasped –

"Oh, yeah, look, I need to pick up something for art class at Michael's after school. Can you guys wait for me until I talk to Ms. Yangchen about it? Should only be fifteen minutes after the bell or something."

"Whatever," I said. "Meet in the gym to go home?"

Everyone nodded and dispersed. I grabbed Katara's hand as we walked to art class together, and she didn't pull away. I felt like the king of the world as we walked through the halls together, her fingers tight in mine.

"So you liked his art?" I asked.

She gave a little turn towards me and smiled. She'd worn her hair in loopies again. "Yeah, he's always been good. He tore it up last year in Art class."

"Guess I'm having a bit harder time with it."

She leaned up and gave me the tiniest of pecks on the cheek before we sat down. "Don't worry babe," she said softly, "I'd take your noodle drawings any day."

* * *

_Boobs…boobs…_

"You have to be careful with this derivative, it's tricky – "

_Toph's boobs…big white boobs…_

"You'd be surprised how many of you forget to carry the X – "

_Suki's boobs…what do Suki's boobs look like?...Suki's boobs…_

_No, Sokka, focus, Toph's boobs…_

"Okay, well, that's all for the day, you're free to go!"

_Boooooobs….wait, what?_

"What?" Sokka said, snapping his head up.

Mr. Piandao rolled his eyes. "If you'll stop fantasizing about women, Mr. Hatori, you're free to go. We finished early today."

Sokka glanced at the clock. Five minutes left on the bell? Fuck yeah! The rest of the class was already up and running. He threw his stuff together, waved at Mr. Piandao and headed over to the gym.

To his surprise, Suki was there, packing up her martial arts equipment. He stared at her for a minute before realizing that she had her karate class last period of the day.

"Sup, Hatori?"

She was wearing just a bra and Spandex. Hair falling from under her bandana. Staring at him with an eyebrow raised and a cocky smile.

"Hey," he managed. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," she said, picking up some of the dummies. "Y'all meeting here to get Katara's art supplies?"

"Yeah."

"Well, don't just stand there, come help me."

"Right!" He dropped his bag and ran over to pick up some of the dummies with her. She offered him a smile and kept working. He hadn't realized how nice it was for a girl to actually smile while looking into his eyes. It'd been a while…since Yue, really.

"What is up with you today?"

"Huh?"

"You're all pensive. Something the matter?"

"Oh," he said, throwing the dummies into the back room. "You know. College letters come out soon. Got to figure out if I have to apply for jobs."

"I feel that," Suki said with a nod. "Did that last year when I was applying for scholarships. It's a bitch."

"You're still going to Gaolin State?"

"Yessir. One of the few girls on their martial arts team."

"Oh. Surrounded by a lot of guys?"

"It'll be a nice change of pace, really. The Kyoshi Warriors are great, but sometimes you need men to calm you down. I don't like the teasing though. My dojo could get pretty awful with the name-calling. There's only so many times you can get called a 'karate cunt' before it really starts to sting, you know?"

"Yeah, totally. The lax team were a bunch of assholes. That's why I wouldn't mind a sports scholarship. Kind of get to feel the camaraderie I felt with my team back in the Water District."

"Definitely."

He picked up the wood boards and walked behind her, watching her hips move. Smaller, quicker than Toph's. Her skin warm, like hot tea, rather than cold, like ivory. "You ever get kind of…tired of hanging out with the sophomores and stuff?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, I love our gang and all that, but I don't know, sometimes I want to vent about going to college and it's stuff they don't have to deal with yet. I'm kind of jealous."

"Well, there's Mai."

"Yeah, because Mai and I totally have deep talks about life all the time."

Suki chuckled and stood up. "Well, dude, you've got me. I'm right there with you. All filled with teenage angst with an angry world pressing up in me trying to get me to settle down and fall in line."

"Yeah," he said, her words reaching right to his heart.

"Don't worry," she said, moving to the center and bending down to pick up the pads. So _that's_ what Suki's boobs looked like. "You're gonna be fine. You're smart, you're motivated, you've got a great heart. Even if you don't get accepted, any boss who isn't a dipshit would hire you. Besides, you know Katara's gonna make sure you're as happy as a gangster in a gun store next year. She's not gonna let you go anywhere you're not happy."

"Thank God for Katara," he agreed, watching her roll up the pads and walk over to the room. She passed him and he caught a whiff of her smell – sweat and some kind of warm, musky perfume. He couldn't stop it. He grabbed her hand.

"Suki, have you ever…you know…_felt_ something for me?"

She stopped and stared at him. "Uh, Sokka?"

"Have you?"

She bit her lip and looked in his eyes. "Yeah, totally. You're a good looking guy. But you know, there's you and Toph."

He didn't answer. She released her lip and looked up at him.

"Isn't there?"

Those blank, white eyes. The anger held in her eyebrows. The feeling of her cold shoulder on him, the mixed signals he'd been receiving for months now. He could barely hold a conversation with the girl who took his virginity. Her laughter next to Teo today.

"No," he finally said. "There isn't."

Suki blinked up at him. She didn't live with them, she didn't know, she didn't know, _she didn't know_ –

He grabbed her around the waist and kissed her.

They fell together like stones down a narrow waterfall, bodies fitting right in sync, Suki throwing her hands right over his shoulders. He closed his eyes. Oh, my Lord, this felt _so good_.

* * *

Katara and I held hands all the way to the gym, her other hand gripping tight to her paper bag of various sea glass and crystals, her medium for this week's art project. We didn't talk, so I wasn't surprised when the gym was silent as we came up.

But that was before we opened the door and saw Sokka and Suki kissing, plain as day, in the corner of the gym.

Katara almost dropped her bag, and I had to bite back the '_shit'_ that rose up in my throat like bile. Oh, my God, holy shit, what the fuck, oh my God –

Katara and I looked at each other and communicated instantly and silently. Okay, this wasn't terrible, there was still five minutes before we were all supposed to be here, maybe they'd be broken up before Toph came –

But there were at least three other entrances to the gym, and not all of them were loud and creaky. The smallest entrance, right towards the front, opened silently, and Toph walked in, her backpack over her shoulder, slinging her cane, bangs hiding her face.

Katara immediately thrust her art supplies into my hand and moved right out to the gym floor, preparing to break Suki and Sokka up, I don't know how she was planning it, but thank God Toph was blind, she didn't know what was happening, we could break them up –

"Damn, Kyoshi," Sokka said throatily. The other three of us froze. Toph snapped her head up. "Where'd you learn to kiss like this?"

Oh, _no_.

In the span of a heartbeat, we saw it all pass on Toph's face. Her hands started shaking on her cane. Katara pressed her hands to her face as we saw it all come tumbling down, oblivious to the kissing couple in the corner.

Toph gripped her cane, turned tail, and ran right out, letting the gym door slam shut behind her.

* * *

**Aaah cliffhanger! Because we need more drama in a story classified as Humor (anyone else notice that? Need to change it...) Anyway, I'm sorry for doing this to you again, but I promise I've already started writing the next chapter so it should be up soon. I'd say more but I'm very sick and having a quarter-life crisis (hence some of the ridiculousness of this chapter), so I'll just say that I love you all and I hope you enjoyed! Please review! Mwah - PVB**


	26. Lost in the Dark

**Just a warning: another chapter that's a hard T. Get yourselves ready.**

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Lost in the Dark**

* * *

The slamming door broke up Sokka and Suki, who looked around and saw us there.

"Holy shit, when did you guys get here?" Sokka said, his face flushed.

For a moment, Katara and I couldn't even speak. As usual, Katara found her voice first. She grabbed the biggest book she could find out of her backpack, walked right over and smacked Sokka on the arm, making him yelp.

"I'll deal with you in a moment," she growled, and in the span of a heartbeat gangster Katara was back. "You two stay right the fuck here. Aang?"

"Yeah, I know," I said, dropping my backpack as we ran out the door past Toph.

We tried to intuition out where she had gone, but we still took a few wrong turns before we finally ended up getting to the weight room. Her backpack, Converse and cane were tossed haphazardly towards the entrance, and she had ripped off her layered T-shirt, showing the tank top underneath. No tape, no gloves, she was silently working at a punching bag like her life depended on it, rolling on the balls of her socked feet.

"Toph…" Katara said softly.

She said nothing, just kept slamming the bag.

"Toph?" I said. She was scaring me.

"It's okay," she finally said. Her voice was low. I couldn't see her eyes through her bangs. "I've been through worse. It's not like I didn't expect this. I mean, it's fucking _Suki_. You can't blame him."

"I'm sure that's not what he – " Katara said.

"Oh, no, I'm sure he did," Toph said. She began kicking the bag now, her tattoo flashing as her hips moved up and down. "It's okay. It's my own damn fault. I let it happen. I let him in. Maybe if he didn't have my everything, this wouldn't be how I feel."

"He doesn't have your everything," Katara said.

Toph turned around and glared at us with her milky eyes. "Oh yeah? What the fuck do you think we did at that party at my house? When we disappeared for a few hours?"

Realization struck Katara and I at the same time.

"No," she whispered.

"Oh, shit," I said.

"Oh yeah," Toph said. Her voice dripped bitter defiance. "And the worst part is, it was fabulous. He said I could tell him when to stop whenever I wanted and he went slow and it was my own choice and he was fabulous and it was fabulous. I don't fucking regret it at all. It's a damn miracle it even happened. It probably won't happen again. Maybe I should be happy I loved Sokka for this time. At least now I know what it feels like."

"Toph – " Katara whispered, tears filling her eyes.

Toph turned back to the punching bag. "And you know, I really believed. That's the bullshit thing. I really believed that maybe it could happen to me. You know, that this shitty black world that I live in would maybe open up. Maybe there'd be a guy who wouldn't care that I can't see him and I'm psychologically fucked up and probably ugly as shit, I have no idea. This fairytale shit might actually come true like it does for all the other girls."

"It'll happen to you, too!" Katara said.

"Oh, bullshit, Katara!" She snapped. "You're fucking _gorgeous_! I can tell, I can tell from the way you move, the way that boys talk to you! No guy has ever talked to me that way that Aang talks to you, Zuko talks to you, Jet talks to you! Sokka did, but he was just being nice, I see that now. They were all true. I'm blind and ugly and I'll die alone in this cold dark world."

She took a deep breath and said, "Among rich Earth District families, there's a tradition that you have a debutante ball for your daughter on her fifteenth birthday. A way of stating that she's eligible for marriage. All the boys and dads come and they all bid on who gets to marry you and you get to walk around in your fancy dress and have everyone worship you.

"I didn't even _have_ one. And that's when I knew. Right before coming here, my parents told me they weren't throwing one. I knew then that they'd given up. They weren't even going to try to marry me. There was no hope for me in Earth District society. I was going to live under their bullshit rules with their bullshit pity for the rest of my life. And I don't know what would have been worse, the fact that I didn't have one or the fact that if I'd had one, not a single goddamned boy would have shown up. Maybe they were trying to protect me from the humiliation. Nobody is ever going to want to marry me, and all I'll be able to say when I die is that I lost my virginity drunk off of vodka to a gorgeous man that I loved, and he left me a few months later for a sexy martial-arts goddess, and I can't even say that I blame him!"

I was watching her hands as she threw punch after punch, and noticed splashes of red between the white.

"Katara," I whispered.

"Toph, honey, you gotta stop punching," Katara whispered. "You're hurting yourself."

Toph breathed like an animal, her gasps raw and wet. "Good," she muttered, giving a strike so fierce it made her body shake.

I looked over at Katara, who understood that this was a difficult case. She started to inch forward. Toph's punches were rough and uncoordinated, her whole body thrown off-kilter. Her whole persona reminded me of her fight against Chang…except this Toph was so much worse, so much more dangerous. Back then, she knew Sokka and I were watching. This time, I don't think the presence of Katara and I would be enough to deter her from running herself to the ground.

Katara managed to get up and caught Toph's fist just as it was thrown out. Toph whirled around, her eyes huge and panicked, and Katara grabbed the other fist, pulling her close, muttering, "You're bleeding, baby – "

Toph snapped away and turned away, her back towards us, panting up and down. Katara threw her hands up and cried,

"Let us help you, Toph!"

The three of us made an unholy trinity in that gym – lots of breathing. Lots of muffled crying. None from Toph, though. Not that we could tell at least.

Eventually she stood up and rubbed her hands all over her face, which made her nose ring get thrown off and all her bangs fluff out. "I'm gonna call Song and stay with her tonight."

Katara swallowed her tears and murmured, "Okay, sweetie."

Toph slowly walked over to her scattered stuff throughout the gym. We watched her put her shirt and shoes on in silence.

"Do you want us to wait with you?" Katara whispered.

Toph shook her head.

Katara was literally shaking. I went over and put my arms around her. Eventually Toph stood up, blood still trickling down her fingers, and hesitated for a moment before coming over to put her arms around both of us. Whether the gesture was for her or for Katara, I'll never know. Katara squeezed tight.

"Promise me you tell Song," she whispered, her hands stroking Toph's hair. "You tell her so she doesn't let you cut yourself. You _promise_ me, Toph Akina Beifong."

She nodded.

"And no drugs," I quickly added. "Drink as much as you like, but no drugs. Promise?"

She nodded again.

Katara would have held on forever, but Toph pulled away. She didn't bother with smiling, but she raised her hand in the best we could expect and walked away, pulling out her phone to call Song. Katara and I stood for a moment, lost in all the emotion, but eventually we squeezed hands and headed back through the halls to the main gym.

When we came back, Sokka and Suki were still standing, looking flabberghasted. "Katara, was that – that wasn't – "

"That was _Toph_!" Katara cried, her voice filled with tears.

"_Toph_?" Sokka's face dropped. "She saw that?"

"You told me you and Toph were done!" Suki barked.

"Apparently not!" Katara shrieked. All of the emotions she'd been forced to hide with Toph were bubbling right up. "Cause I've never seen her this upset! What the _fuck_, Sokka? Aang, where's my book?"

"No, Katara, don't hit me – I thought – I mean, she's been so weird, I just – I couldn't tell what she was –

"Did you never think about why?" Katara yelled, still half-crying, digging a book out of her own backpack. "Did you ever think about _why_ she's so bad at communicating with boys?"

"Uh – I – "

"She was _raped_, you goddamned idiot!"

Suki and Sokka both gasped. "She was _raped_?" Sokka whispered. "What? When?"

"Last year at an MMA party, that asshole Chang fingered her!" Realization dawned on Sokka's face. "And you – you goddamned asshole – " Katara had finally found her book, and began proceeding to smack every reachable part of his body, "you - took – her – _virginity_!"

"She _told_ you?" Sokka wailed, as Suki yelled,

"So you _did_ fuck!"

"Yes, they did, and what – the – _fuck_?" Katara kept hitting his arm, her voice so raw. "You sleep with her and then now there's _this_? Goddamn it, Sokka, I did _not_ raise you this way!"

"Nobody told me she was raped!" He yelled back, his fists clenched. "I thought she was just bad at communicating cause of the drugs – where the hell is she, anyway?" He wasn't even trying to shield himself from Katara's onslaught.

"Her friend Song is picking her up, cause she said she didn't want to go home with us! She loved you, Sokka! She thought she might actually have a chance at happiness! GODFUCKINGDAMN IT!"

And then suddenly it was all done – Katara ran out of words, Sokka ran out of defenses, and Suki and I stood there trying to figure out what had happened. Katara dug her fingers in her hair and Sokka just stood there breathing, looking on the verge of tears himself.

In one last push, Katara rounded on Suki, who threw her hands up and said, "I didn't know, I asked him about it, I would never have if I knew – "

"Kat, stop, it wasn't her fault," Sokka said.

"So whose fault is it?"

"Whose fault is what?"

Zuko had finally arrived, rubbing his eyes. "Sorry, guys, talking late with Uncle – what the hell happened?"

We all looked around at each other, and I said,

"It's nobody's fault. Let's just go home."

Katara nodded and stormed out. I grabbed Zuko and dragged him along as Sokka followed.

"Wait, where's Toph?"

I shook my head. "Can't even right now, dude. Really just can't. She's staying at Song's for the night."

Zuko looked around at all of us and knitted his brows. "Was this…did she – "

"Not right now. Really. We'll talk later."

He stared at me for a moment before getting in the driver's seat.

None of us realized how much the empty middle seat bothered us.

* * *

Toph didn't know where she was. Literally, figuratively, emotionally. Didn't know anything. But there was grass underneath her and an ice-cold Heineken, so for the moment she was alive. Didn't know about next moment, didn't know about the previous moment. But right now, she was alive.

She didn't know how long she lived moment to moment. The heat of the sun faded from her skin and was replaced by cool night breezes. People around her talked and walked and looked. She cried, off and on. It felt good. She remembered how rock bottom felt. It was almost comforting. Happy had been new for her – love, definitely so. But this? Heartbreak, depression, hopelessness? This shit felt like home.

She knew Song was there, but it was more by presence than by voice, cause Song hadn't said a word. She'd broken her promise and not told her, but she'd heard the buzz of Song's cell phone and assumed Aang or Katara had texted her, cause the first thing Song did upon picking her up was press a bottle of beer into her hand and drive her here, to wherever they were. And then there was just sitting and being and existing. Like she'd been stripped down to her most basic, primal instincts, trying to survive. But that was the thing – this world wasn't engineered for her. Darwin's theory had never been kind to the disabled, no matter how smart or strong or determined she was. When the world came down to fight or flight, she was blind. The odds were _always_ against her.

Every goddamned day of her life, the odds were against her.

She forgot how it felt to cry because of her disability. Kinda felt good. Just to admit this was all bullshit. Forget Sokka, forget the inevitable heartbreak that she'd seen coming a mile away. Being blind sucked. It sucked flabby, hairy, saggy, sweaty monkey balls. Nothing else to it.

She polished off the bottle with a big swig, and before she knew it, another one was in her hand. No idea how many she'd had. Enough to begin to comprehend it, with the sort of counter-intuitive clarity that comes with drunkenness. She tried to sit fully up, but kind of ended up rolling over instead. Grass pressed against her face.

Someone crawled up to her, and she felt Song's cool hand on her head.

"Toph?" she said.

She made a weird sound.

"Need water?"

She popped the top of the bottle and took a drink, lying on her side. She scooched until her head hit Song's knee and she was lying in Song's lap. Her stomach was full and bubbly with beer.

For a moment Song just petted her hair. She missed her. Katara was awesome, but Song talked less. Which was really priceless.

Eventually though, it got too much even for her. "So what happened?" Song asked.

What did happen? Nothing, really. But it felt like everything. She wanted to break it down into simple terms, but it couldn't. She couldn't.

"There was an incident after school," she finally said, her words slurring a little.

"An incident."

"Yes."

"What happened with the incident?"

"There was…sexual advances."

"Sexual advances."

"Yes."

"Between who?"

Ah, the million dollar question. "Sokka and Suki."

"Oh."

_Oh_, right. She took a big swig of beer.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie."

_Me too._

Toph closed her eyes and kept drinking. The world was starting to spin. It was always so much worse because she couldn't see.

"What are you going to do about it?"

Hmm. "Go in my room, do a line of coke and cut myself?"

"_Very_ mature, dear."

"I'm fifteen fucking years old, I don't need to be mature."

"Do you think cutting yourself is going to make Sokka come back to you?"

"I don't care about Sokka."

"Bullshit."

Toph pushed herself up and dragged her hands through her hair as it burst from its ponytail holder. "Well, what do you want from me?" She said, her voice choked. "Sit here and be a good girl and accept it as failed love and move the fuck on? Not how I was wired, not how I learned to deal with things. Look, this world's been screwing me, so sue me if I'm gonna fight dirty."

Song sighed and shifted. Toph really wished she could see her. "I don't know, honey. I just…I expect better from you."

"So did everyone else. Apparently I just keep letting people down. Whoop-de-_fucking_-do."

"Have you ever considered that you let Sokka down? That this might be because you can't really show love?"

_Ouch_.

Toph fell back down on the grass. Her anger roared up in her. "Ugh, Song, don't give me this bullshit. I've been to shrinks, I've seen this shit before, I fucking know how to show love! I love you!"

"Oh, and a _great_ job you're doing with that."

Tears welled up. "Thank you for pointing out all my flaws after a guy chooses another girl over me. This is _awesome_. Totally the kind of thing that's going to stop me from cutting myself tonight."

She sniffled and pushed at her eyes, stupid fucking useless eyes. "Just for two seconds it would be awesome to cut a break, you know? Two minutes of…shit being right, and okay. Just for a little bit."

"Baby, that's up to you. You still live with Sokka. What are you going to do about it?"

Facing him again made her heart literally clench. Hearing that voice. She was worried she'd just replay those words, those guttural moaning words, _Kyoshi, who taught you how to kiss like this_, over and over again. What the hell was supposed to happen now?

And then she was drunk and crying and tired and she just pushed her face in the grass and cried. _Godfuckingdamn it._

Song crawled over and put her hands over her shoulders, and Toph felt the grass that she had always loved and just cried and cried and cried. Oh, Lord…

"Can I just…not deal with it tonight?" she finally whispered. "Can I not?"

After a moment, Song said, "Sure, sweetie. We can not deal with it yet. We'll go to my parent's house."

Toph could only nod. There was sure to be some right course of action, some mature thing to do, some way to deal with this without her heart getting cut open again.

But right now she couldn't see it, any more than she could see Sokka kissing Suki, and right now she was too tired to fight her blindness. Right now all there was to do was lay in the dark.

* * *

The difference in the house was noticeable. Sokka went to the backyard, presumably to hide from Katara's random outbursts of punching, and we finally were forced to tell Grandpa and Zuko what had happened. Zuko raised his eyebrows and Grandpa shook his head.

"I'm so goddamn pissed at him," Katara snapped.

"I assure you my dear," Grandpa said, "he's more mad at himself than you could possibly be."

Apparently it was true. Sokka barely ate at dinner (also probably because Zuko and Katara were being assholes and not talking to him). We all retreated to our rooms to do homework, but Appa kind of wandered between the rooms looking for Toph, and his low whines were awful to hear. I couldn't concentrate for shit.

It wasn't until maybe midnight that Sokka came into my room. The light had gone out in Katara's room a while ago, and Zuko's too. I was still up, half-doing homework, half-watching TV, petting Appa and Momo at the same time. Sokka came in and flopped face-down on my bed with no introduction.

"Hey," I said, getting up to close the door.

"On a scale of one to Chris Brown, how mad are you at me?" He said, his voice muffled.

"Uh, not Chris Brown. Definitely not. Maybe a Justin Bieber at the London paparazzi?"

"I'll take it." He rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. "Cause I'm not sure if Katara will ever talk to me again."

"Katara's not the one you have to worry about. Katara doesn't fight MMA. Toph could probably rip your balls off if she wanted to. And then she'd sauté them and feed them to you with a dull – "

"Okay, I _get_ it."

Appa and Momo had both piled on Sokka, and the animal contact made him smile a bit.

"Dude, what were you thinking?"

"I don't _know_. Look, Toph's been difficult, and the mixed signals, and I thought she made it pretty clear we weren't in a relationship – "

"Do you want to be in a relationship with her?"

He thought for a moment and said, "Yes."

"More than with Suki?"

"…Yes."

"So what the fuck made you kiss Suki?"

"I didn't think I had anything with Toph, so Suki was there, and she said she was into me, and – Jesus, Aang, you have a dick, you know how it goes!"

"I'd chop it off before I'd kiss anyone other than Katara."

Sokka groaned and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know dude, you try having the first girl you ever have sex with not speak to you."

"She didn't know _how_ to talk to you. She probably saw you ignoring her too and had to protect herself."

He didn't have an answer, just kept petting Momo, his face dark. I sat in my desk chair as my curiosity suddenly overwhelmed my anger and confusion.

"So…you had sex with her?"

He nodded.

"Like, _real_ sex?"

"What other kind of sex is there?"

"I don't know, I mean, was it, like – "

"Yes, Aang, it was _real_ sex."

"Whoa," I said in admiration. Sokka sat up and finally grinned at me.

"What was it like?" I whispered.

"Awesome," he said reverently. "It was like…a _hundred_ times better than masturbating."

Oh, my God. And I thought masturbating was pretty good.

"Like…having a real girl…with like…a _thing_…is so much better than doing it with your hand, or a Kleenex or whatever. It's fucking _amazing_."

"But wasn't it awkward? Isn't it supposed to be awkward the first time?"

"I mean, the sex itself wasn't awkward, you kind of get in a rhythm, but the…you know…going in and coming out were pretty awkward."

"Why?" As much porn as I'd watched, the actual act of sex was still something I had little to no comprehension of. Sokka got an awkward look on his face and ran his hand through his hair.

"Okay, so like…Toph's curvy, you know, but she's short."

"Uh-huh?"

"She's _small_…like…her hips are small."

"Yeah?"

"_Her hips are small_, Aang."

"What are you talking about?" The female anatomy was, to me, kind of like a spaceship – I knew they existed, and I could identify one out of a lineup, but the inner workings were still a mystery that I associated with other great world mysteries like the existence of God or where Carmen Sandiego was.

"Jesus, Aang, she has a small vagina!" Sokka finally snapped. I blinked. Not what I was expecting to hear. "So it was like…painful, for her first time. It was uncomfortable for her. Some shit got…ripped, I don't really know."

"Ripped?" There was shit down there that got _ripped_? Why the fuck would girls want to have sex if it _ripped_ things?

"Yeah, there was blood."

"_Blood_? Jesus Christ!" Oh, my God! Sex was like Survivor! "Why would girls want to do that? I don't want my dick to bleed, _ever_!"

"Dude, their junk already bleeds, haven't you heard of a period?"

"I mean, I feel like every so often Katara and Toph get really bitchy and the bathroom trash can is filled with all this shit – "

"It's cause their junk is bleeding."

"Ugh, fuck, that's gross! What the fuck?"

Sokka grinned. "This is perfect. Maybe this will quench your sexual desires towards my baby sister."

"Why would girls _ever_ want to have sex if it makes them bleed?"

"Cause girls are _awesome_. You never appreciate a girl as much as when she lets you put your dick in her. It is an act of fucking _charity_. Also, it only bleeds the first time, apparently."

I sat back in my chair feeling like I'd aged ten years in this one conversation.

"And after all that you kissed another girl?" I finally said.

Sokka sighed. "Trust me, bud. If I could take it all back, I would."

* * *

We didn't see Toph at school the next day, and if she was there she didn't sit with us at lunch. We were all glad to see Suki looking equally as remorseful as Sokka, sitting quietly and eating her food with downcast eyes. Then it was the weekend, and we all kind of hunkered down in the house. Sokka was waiting on his college acceptance letters, which were coming in the next few weeks, and Katara and Zuko were focusing on APs. Our vandalism actually had gotten a decent number of votes, but it felt like we couldn't enjoy it. The lack of loud music, swearing and beaming smiles was disconcerting. Plus we all missed being able to hang out with Toph in our underwear.

Sunday night Katara finally got the text –

"She's coming home," she called out. We each poked our heads out of respective rooms.

"Really?" Sokka said, his face terrified.

Katara nodded and looked down at her phone. "She says if it's okay, Song's gonna drop her off in an hour or so."

We all turned to Sokka.

"Time to get your shit together," Katara said.

He nodded. He knew.

Eventually, a faded green sedan pulled up in front of the house as we all waited in the living room. Toph let herself in, followed by Song. Katara couldn't stand it. She jumped up and threw herself at Toph.

"Oof – Kat – "

"I missed you, baby," she whispered.

"Missed you too, kitty kat," she finally said.

Zuko and Grandfather came up and welcomed her back as I stood and tried to observe her body language. She didn't seem sad, but didn't seem happy either. Like she was holding everything in.

I ran up and gave her the biggest hug I could muster. "I'm so glad to have you back."

For a moment, she sank into my arms. "Same here, Twinkletoes."

Then she pulled away and turned her blind eyes to the rest of the room. The moment we'd all been waiting for.

"Hey, Sokka," she said with a wave.

"Hey, Toph," he said, petrified. What was that supposed to mean?

She smiled and then turned to her friend Song, giving her a hug goodbye. We thanked Song for taking care of her and she gave a little bow and headed out. Toph grabbed her duffel bag and headed down the hall to her room as Appa and Momo both went apeshit at having her back. We all stayed in the living room for a moment, trying to figure her attitude out, but finally Sokka walked forward down the hall. Katara grabbed my hand and we sat down on the couch.

"Fingers crossed," she whispered.

* * *

She had her hair in a ponytail. That was his first indication that she was open to talking. He'd never seen it before, but her long black hair was in a low ponytail at the nape of her neck. She unpacked her clothes wearing her tank top and yoga pants. Uncharacteristically, she hadn't heard him come up. So he cleared his throat.

She stiffened up. "Sokka?"

"Uh, yeah. Hi."

"Hi, yourself." She straightened up and started riffling through her closet.

He was desperate to make conversation, so he said, "Whatcha looking for?"

"Well, I'm currently deciding whether I'm going to kick your ass or not, so in case I go with the former, I'm looking for something to hit you with."

"Um…well Katara's been using the book, maybe that's a good option?"

"Has she now? Well."

She sighed and leaned her head on the closet door. "So, is there something you want to say?"

"Huh?"

"You came in here. Is there something you want to say? I'm not looking for anything. But if you want to say something, better do it fast before I flip my shit."

Sokka took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry."

She turned her white eyes towards his, black bangs covering a part of her face.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't think about how much that would hurt you. I shouldn't have done it. That was an ass thing to do."

She closed her eyes tight and rolled her head until she was facing the floor. For a moment it looked like she was a soldier preparing for battle.

Then she straightened up, put her hands on her hips and said,

"Come on. We're going outside."

Sokka, not knowing what was going on, followed her through the living room, where every member of the house was sitting on the couch like they were watching a soap opera. Katara's eyes were huge and even Zuko looked intrigued as Toph led him past them, closing the sliding glass door behind her.

It was a gorgeous spring night, just a little cool, and in the moonlight she really did look amazing, even in just a tank top and yoga pants. She turned to look at him and he really had no idea what she was going to say, what was going to happen.

"The fuck, Sokka?" She finally said. He kept quiet. She put her hands on her hips and breathed deeply.

"Look, I'm not stupid," she said, her voice low. "I get it. But you didn't have to be a goddamned asshole about it. You didn't have to kiss her right in front of me. I don't know what the fuck you were thinking – maybe she can't see, maybe she won't know – but it was shit, and I really kind of expected better."

"Look, that's not what I was thinking – "

"So please, walk me through it! What the hell else could you be thinking? I assume Suki's good looking and she probably wasn't wearing much, I can connect the fucking _dots_, dude!"

"Look, okay, so yeah, maybe she looked good, I'm sorry about that, that was me being an asshole. But that's not what I wanted."

"What did you want? You got what you wanted, you got her, didn't you? You got me in bed, was that what you were after with her?"

"Goddamn it, Toph," he finally snapped, "you know me better than that! What we did was special to me!"

"Me too, fucking idiot! So if taking my v-card meant so much to you, the _least_ you could do was tell me it was over before you go making out with Suki Kyoshi!"

"It's not over! I don't want it to be over!"

"It kind of is!" She screamed. "I don't really see how you expect me to keep thinking there's something here, I wanted there to be, but – "

"Did you really? Cause I didn't see _any_ of that! All I saw was you being moody and _I_ connected the fucking dots!"

"Okay, yeah, whatever, I'm bad at communication, sorry, you probably could have surmised that – "

"And you were _raped_? What the _fuck_, Toph?" They were both yelling now. "You could've mentioned that!"

"Oh, yeah, talking about that is my FAVORITE FUCKING THING TO DO!" She bellowed, her eyes filled with tears. "Dear boy that I love, dear boy that I genuinely think likes me despite my shit, I'm going to tell you about all this shit that's gonna make you run away screaming and remind me of why I try so hard to be tough, allow me to let you in past EVERY FUCKING WALL I'VE EVER BUILT, after I've just let you into my BODY, yeah, doesn't that sound like a fun _fucking_ conversation?"

He couldn't answer that. He'd managed to break something, and she had one hand up against the wall and was trying so desperately not to cry, her breath in big gasping gulps as she kept swallowing tears.

"What happened?" he whispered. "What was it?"

"Oh, _now_ you want me to talk about it?" She snapped. "How about this, it was _so much fucking fun_. That's what it was, it was _fun_. I was pretty plastered, cause I was fourteen years old and didn't really know my limits, and I don't really remember much of it but the goddamn pain, and now I know it was Chang, that's how he could lift me up so easily and take me in that room and pull my pants down and…and…" she was sobbing, every barrier broken, "his fingers were so cold and dirty and they were rough and pushed me open, and I didn't know what to do, I was crying and screaming and fighting but he didn't say anything, just held me down until he was done and then he just _left_, just like that. And I just laid there for I don't know how long, just crying, trying to figure it all out, couldn't put a name to it, and then there was nothing to do but put my panties back on and move on, that's all there ever is to do, and that's apparently what I'm going to have to do with this. Cause I showed it to you, I showed _myself_ to you, that part of me that's been touched, and, and, violated, and all the used goods, cause I wasn't really a virgin when we had sex, and I showed that to you because I wanted you and I thought you wanted me and I thought nobody would ever love me again so I wanted to sink deep into that awesome feeling and now, I just, now – " her voice shook and trembled, "now I don't know, I don't know if I can show that again, cause this hurts bad, Sokka, this hurts real bad, it probably hurts almost as bad as when your mom died, I don't know what that was like for you, but this, what I've got right now, it's cutting me like a knife, every time I move, every time I think of you, it cuts a little deeper, and I'm a tough fucking girl and I can put up with this because I love Aang and our movement and I want him to win Prom King so damn bad, but I'm not Supergirl, and _this_, right now…I can't live like this forever. I just can't. And I know now, the honeymoon period is over, I get it now. I can do a lot of things even though I'm disabled, but apparently have a man love me for me isn't one of them."

The whole world slowed to a stop. And Sokka swore he and Toph actually looked at each other, somehow. They reached beyond it.

"I don't want to ever hurt you," he whispered. "I want to love you for you. You gotta give me a chance."

She wiped tears from her eyes and said, "Then you gotta give me time."

It broke his heart, but he nodded. Toph knew somehow, and she managed to slowly make her way back into the house. Sokka stood outside in the moonlight and thought to himself,

_I'll be waiting, Toph._

* * *

**God, that was a bitch of a chapter to write. I know a lot of you were really upset at the last chapter, so I'm sorry for that, but you have to trust Pegelia - this isn't my first rodeo; I've got a plan for this story :) This is actually one of the last intense chapters of the story, for better or worse. We're getting close to Prom, aaah!**

**So I'll leave you all with this hella intense chapter and many wishes for a great Easter! Isn't it crazy that we've been together with this since Christmas? You guys really are the shit :) Love, PVB**


	27. Remix

**Pegelia has heard your requests for more Kataang and is happy to oblige! Enjoy - **

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Remix**

* * *

"What in holy _fuck_ is on Haru's face?"

Zuko, Sokka and I stared like Haru was an alien. He had, somehow overnight, sprouted a truly magnificent moustache.

"Why is that even necessary?" Zuko muttered.

"I think he slaughtered a squirrel and pasted it on his face," Sokka replied.

He stood by his locker chilling with his Earth friends. I literally couldn't take my eyes off his moustache.

"It looks like something Jigglypuff drew on while he was sleeping," I said.

"You think if we threw water on him it would come off?" Sokka said.

"He has entirely too much hair," Zuko said. "It's all over the fucking place. He needs a haircut."

"What are we gossiping about?" Katara said. She walked up, saw Haru's moustache and said, "_Oh_."

"What's going on?" Toph said, following her.

"Haru grew a moustache," Katara said.

"_Oh_," Toph repeated.

"What?" The three of us demanded.

"Men with facial hair," Katara said.

The three of us descended into bitter silence. Apparently I wasn't the only one who had noticed the three unused razors in the bathroom the five of us shared.

Suki walked up, a determined look on her face. "Yo. Toph."

Toph turned, her face slipping into emotionless. "Suki?"

"Look, dude. I'm sorry. That was a ratchet bitch thing to do. Not gonna go stepping in your turf again." It was said with total and complete sincerity.

All of us stayed quiet, watching to observe what Toph would say. Sokka looked like he was about to piss himself.

Eventually, Toph smiled and stuck out her hand. Suki grabbed it and they hugged close in a bro hug. "S'all good, babe," Toph said. "No hard feelings."

"Thanks, Bitch," Suki said, her whole face bursting into a smile. Then her eyes caught Haru's moustache. "_Oh_."

"I know, right?" Katara said.

"I want to touch it," Suki said.

"How big is it?" Toph said.

"_Big_," the other two responded.

"Well, Jesus, you could stop making it sound like you're talking about his dick!" Sokka snapped. Zuko and I pouted similarly. Who knew that facial hair would have such an effect on the teenage girl population?

Toph leaned in to whisper something in Katara's ear, and the three girls cracked up. The three boys shared a look. This was bad.

That night at home, I was in my room doing homework when it occurred to me that I had to mark my territory. This was getting serious. Haru had a fucking moustache. I had to take preemptive strikes.

I walked over and knocked on Katara and Toph's door.

"Enter," Toph called haughtily.

I walked in to find the room lit up, with Katara hunched over her desk scribbling in her AP workbook while Toph lay on her stomach on the bed, her fingers trailing over a Braille book. Christina Perri played in the background.

"Hey, Aang," Katara said without turning around.

"Hey, Kat," I said. "I have a proposition."

"Oh yeah?"

"I would like for us to be Facebook official."

The response was unanimous. Katara stopped working and turned around, her braid whipping over her shoulder. Toph looked up and raised an eyebrow. The door to the boys' room, directly next door, creaked open with a horror movie sound. I swear even Appa and Momo listened in.

"Yeah?" Katara said slowly.

"Well, I figure that we're pretty much together, so we should go ahead and announce it to the world."

"I didn't think this kind of stuff mattered that much to you, Aang."

"Well, no, I mean…" I straightened up. "I would like for you to officially be my girlfriend. And we all know Facebook is necessary in this quest."

Katara leaned her head on a hand and smiled. "Hmm. This is an interesting proposition."

The sound of footsteps came from Zuko and Sokka's room as the boys moved closer to the door to hear.

"If it means that much to you," she said, "then yes, you may go ahead and make it Facebook official."

"Really?"

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yeah. Sure. We are officially dating."

"About goddamn time," Toph said.

"Preach!" Zuko and Sokka called.

"Shut up!" Katara yelled. "Don't you all have work?"

"Aang, if you become one of those disgusting mushy-mushy Facebook couples I will no longer permit you to date my sister!" Sokka called.

"Second the motion!" Zuko said.

"I promise you on my honor that will not happen," I said.

"Katara?"

"You want me to promise to not be a girl and gush about a new relationship? Good luck with that one!"

"Who are you going to gush to? Your only friends already know about this whole thing, it's not gonna be news to them!"

To this day the speed with which Katara can find a book and proceed to beat Sokka with it is quite astounding.

"Sokka – you – make – me – so – damn – _mad_!" She barked, smacking him repeatedly with the book as Zuko sat at his desk, watching the scene with a completely bored expression.

"I –have – more – friends – than – Toph – and – Suki!"

"Should you, like, stop them?" I asked Zuko.

He shrugged. "Doesn't seem like my problem."

" – Totally – had – more – friends – than – you – you – loser – "

"How are APs going?"

"Not bad, Calc's a bitch. How about your life?"

" –weren't – for – me – you – never – would – have – had – a – date – to – Homecoming – "

"Katara, hurry up, you promised to paint my toenails tonight," Toph called out.

"Katara, you are a – _ouch_ – crazy psychobitch!"

"YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT I AM!"

"Pipe down, kids, _Dancing with the Stars_ is on!" Grandpa called out.

Katara threw down the book, looked haughtily at Sokka, and then stormed out of the room.

The three of us chilled for a moment before Katara suddenly reappeared in the room and grabbed her book.

"I need this," she said, blushing as she left again.

After a pause, Sokka called out, "_Smooth_."

"Smoother than the stack of biker babe porn that you thought I'd never tell anyone about?"

Now it was Sokka's turn to blush as we all descended into laughter.

"That's my girlfriend," I said proudly.

* * *

"Grandpa, you know I love you, right?"

"Yes, Sokka, I do."

"And you know I am eternally grateful to you for taking me in, and that I love Air District culture and am trying my hardest to preserve it?"

"Yes, Sokka."

"So are you going to be offended if I say that I desperately need meat tonight?"

Grandpa rolled his eyes. "I suppose not."

"You did used to get meat more often, Grandpa," Toph said, brandishing her fork.

"Well, my conscience got the better of me. But if you feel the desperate desire for meat, then I can't stop you."

Sokka jumped up and immediately took his plate to the sink. A moment later, Zuko jumped up too and said, "I'm going with him, Grandpa."

"Guys, this pasta is delicious, I don't know why you're leaving," Katara said.

"Come on, Aang, guy night," Sokka said. "We're getting turf n' turf."

"Guys, I actually _am_ a vegetarian."

"Go with your friends, Aang," Grandpa said.

"Wouldn't hurt you to have a bit more testosterone," Toph added.

I scowled at her, forgetting as always that this didn't work, and then got up and took my plate to the sink too. "Okay, whatever, we'll go get meat."

"Toph and I will have a girl night!" Katara said with a smile. "I can finally untangle the snags from her hair!"

Toph's whole face went white. Just as we were leaving I heard her pitiful cry –

"Take me with you!"

But we'd already piled into the Mustang and were driving away.

"Aah, this is going to be good," Sokka said, rubbing his hands together. "So where should we go? Hank's Barbecue Pit?"

"I was thinking Meat Depot downtown."

"Or maybe Pork n' Cork?"

Were these names of restaurants or death metal bands?

"Okay, well, we do have to think of Aang," Zuko said, making a left hand turn onto the main street. "So how about Outback Steakhouse? He can get a salad or something there."

I tried very hard not to whimper in relief. "That sounds good, guys."

"Outback Steakhouse it is," Sokka said. The late evening rolled by out the window.

"So Prom's in like three weeks," Zuko said.

"I know, crazy, huh?" I said. "Who are you taking?"

"I don't know," he said, throwing his head back. "Can't decide between Mai and Suki."

"Which one have you slept with?" Sokka asked.

"Both."

"_Damn_," he said.

"Am I the only here who hasn't gotten laid?" I lamented.

"You better not be thinking about anything with my baby sister!" Sokka snapped.

"I wasn't, I was just saying…God, Sokka, you're a Nazi…"

"This is coming from the guy who fucked Toph and then made out with another girl," Zuko said.

"Ugh, can we drop that?"

"Are you and Toph talking again?"

"Not really…"

"Then no," I said. "And even then we're still allowed to fuck with you about it."

"If I ask her to Prom, is that gonna make it better?"

"Maybe," Zuko said.

"So glad I don't have to do that this year," I said, leaning back.

"Why not?" Sokka said.

"Well, Katara and I are officially dating, so I don't have to ask her to Prom, right?"

"NO!" They both barked as we pulled into the parking lot.

"Are you fucking kidding? No way," Sokka said.

"That is a highway to break up right there," Zuko said.

"What?" I said, bewildered, as we got out.

"That's the most freshman mistake ever," Sokka said. "Just because you're dating her does not mean you don't have to come up with some elaborate Prom-asking scheme."

"That doesn't make any sense," I said. "We're together, she knows we're going, why do I have to – "

"Because girls are sadistic," Zuko said, "and they love stealing your money and having you make a big deal out of it and feeling like princesses. Three, please."

We followed the waitress to a booth as all of the pressure of Prom came tumbling back on me. "I really have to still ask her? That's ridiculous! Why do we let them get away with that?"

We sat down and Sokka sighed. "Once you have sex, you'll understand. Men let girls get away with anything."

"We shouldn't do that. Asking them out is humiliating enough. I don't want to spend any more money – "

"Aang, discuss to me what you know about vaginas," Zuko said, staring at his menu.

"Uh…nothing?"

"Then you don't understand. As long as they have vaginas, they're in control. Those things are…"

"Evil," Sokka said.

"Disgusting."

"Creepy."

"Smell weird."

"A complete mystery."

"But they're – "

"Fantastic," they both finished.

I sat staring at them.

"I don't understand," I finally said. "This doesn't make any sense."

"One day, young Padawan, it will," Sokka said, as the waitress came up. "Uh, yeah, can I have a root beer? And I'll take the 16 ounce Porterhouse."

"I'll have the number four special, medium rare, with mashed potatoes and…an iced tea," Zuko said.

And I smiled, handed my menu to her, and said, "Mac n' cheese and a water please."

The waitress smiled and walked away. Zuko and Sokka chuckled and shook their heads.

"Hate all you want," I said, "but I am technically the only one not having girl troubles."

"I'm not having girl troubles!" Zuko said. "Bitches love me."

"Does Mai? I'm not really sure she likes anything," Sokka said.

"She just has a different view on life then everyone else," Zuko replied. "But she does depress me. That's why I'm worried about asking her."

"And Suki's got her whole crew," Sokka said. "That's pretty terrifying to deal with. I mean, you've – " Suddenly his eyes widened. "Zuko! Oh my God!"

"What?" Zuko said, looking skeptical.

"We're Eskimo brothers!"

"_What_? If this is some weird Water Tribe initiation ceremony or something - "

"No, dude, it means we've hooked up with the same girl!" Sokka looked like this whole life had come down to this one perfect moment. "We're Eskimo brothers! We're connected by an immortal bond of bro-ness! I've always wanted an Eskimo family!"

"I don't think the fact that we've both hooked up with Suki makes us related _at all_," Zuko said, crossing his arms.

"But that's the beauty of it! Depending on how ghetto your girl is, you could have a whole Eskimo family completely different from your real family!"

"Who said I wanted to be related to you? You didn't even sleep with Suki, it doesn't count."

"Yes it does! Everything past first base counts! ESKIMO BROTHER!" He cried, throwing his hands around Zuko, who looked like he had some large animal shit on his head.

"Just know that I do not approve of this," he muttered. "Oh, okay, get this – did you take baths with Katara when you were younger?"

"I suppose we did, yeah."

"Aang, have you or have you not seen Katara naked?"

"Uh, actually – "

"See? You and Aang, are, by your reckoning, Eskimo brothers."

Sokka yelled 'Eww' and thrust his hands out as I tried to explain. "Aang and I are NOT Eskimo brothers! It doesn't count when it's your sister!"

"Your reasoning is _flawed_!"

"Eww eww eww I didn't go past first base with Katara! Eww eww eww – "

"_Guys_," I interjected, as they both turned, "I haven't seen Katara naked."

They both stopped and said, "Oh."

"Really?" Zuko added.

I nodded. "I did get a handjob though."

Sokka yelled so loud everyone in the restaurant turned.

"_Why in the hell would you say that_?" he cried. "You keep this information to yourself, you sick pervert!"

"Sorry, I just wanted to join in on the broing out!"

"When it's my sister, for all I know, you two sat in the room and read your Buddhist shit while wearing muumuus! Even if you guys have kids, you are never allowed to discuss…the…_sex_ thing with me."

"Oh, but you're allowed to tell me about Toph's _vagina_, when she's my roommate and one of my best friends?"

"You were the one who asked."

"I didn't ask you to tell me how small her vagina is!"

"Her vagina's small?" Zuko said.

"Miniscule," Sokka replied. "Almost couldn't see it between those glorious thighs."

"Okay, we're done," I said loudly. All the same, I was grinning widely. How had I ended up with two best guys friends from the Water and Fire Districts?

"You know, it's a lot more fun talking about this stuff with you guys than Appa and Momo," I said. "Momo used to sit in the room while I jacked off and judge me. It was terrifying."

They both burst out laughing. "You know what's the worst thing?" Sokka said. "I think he does that to me now."

"Really?"

"Have you never noticed where he goes on Tuesday nights at 11:18?"

Zuko froze. "You use my weekly long shower to _fap_?"

"No grown ass man should take a long shower every week, the _least_ I could do is take care of myself!"

"Dinner is served," the waitress interrupted, standing over us with three full plates. We stopped talking as she set the food down before us. She was about to walk away when she stopped and said softly,

"No grown ass man takes a long shower every week."

We burst out laughing as she walked away. And Zuko, instead of getting angry, just shook his head and smiled.

* * *

"That feel good, hun?"

"Oh…a little softer…just…oh, _Aang_…"

The room was dark, but Katara's eyes shined up at me, her forehead sweaty as I ran my hands inside of her shirt.

"Aang…that feels good…"

"You tell me when you want me to stop, sweetie…"

"No, you're good, you're good…my _boyfriend_."

Oh, _man_, did that word feel good.

Her hands reached up to stroke my bare chest, and as much as I knew that I was scrawny and had virtually no muscles it was awesome to pretend that her soft hands were stroking over a big burly chest. But she smiled, that smile like dark cherries.

"I gotta tell you, hun, I love that you don't have hair…makes for a softer experience, don't you think?"

I nodded and went in for the kiss. We made out for a bit, and then her hands found their way to my pants again.

"But you aren't hairless everywhere," she whispered.

I let her unzip me, relishing the feeling of her fingers so sure on my zipper, but then I reached up and stopped her. "I gotta do you first, honey."

She froze for a moment, her eyes wide, and then finally smiled. "Okay. Yeah, sure."

"Just lay back," I said, "let me take care of you."

Biggest lie of my life. I had no idea what I was doing. But as Katara laid her head back on the pillow and unbuttoned the rest of her blouse, it really didn't matter.

I started by running my hands over her bra, feeling the beautiful weight of her boobs. She gently laid her head back and made soft little sounds. It occurred to me that I didn't have to stop at the bra, not if she didn't want me to. So I gently picked her up and reached behind her.

"Why, _Aang_…"

"You did see me, after all," I whispered.

She giggled. "Guess I did."

But the bra clasp was a bigger challenge than I thought. I struggled with it for longer than socially acceptable, trying to figure out how to get those stupid little hooks out of the sockets, before Katara said,

"Havin' trouble there, bub?"

"I got it," I insisted. But after another minute, Katara rolled her eyes and reached behind her. With a snap, her bra straps fell loose, and she delicately slipped the blue bra off her shoulders.

BOOBS!

Oooh, they were pretty. Oh, they were gorgeous. Just big enough to make her body look like a woman's. She smiled shyly at me, and I reached forward and just put my hands right on them.

She giggled again. "They're fun, huh?"

"How do you not just play with these all the time?" I said, feeling them squish beneath my hands.

"_Ow_, hun, don't squeeze too hard."

"Oh, shit, sorry! Why are the nipples all hard?"

I ran my finger over one and a moan suddenly escaped from her mouth. When we locked eyes, I suddenly had my answer.

"You know, there are plenty of other articles of clothing still on me," she said in a low voice.

I looked at her and she gently bit her lip.

Holy _fuck_.

I laid her down on the bed and kissed her. Following my instincts, I went down and started kissing at her neck, which made her back arch and small little moans to come out of her mouth. Eventually I moved lower, kissing her chest, and then kissed on the soft, soft skin of her breasts. She held her breath, like she was waiting for me to do something, and with no idea what I was doing, I licked one of her nipples.

She threw her whole head back with a gasp.

"That good?" I said, with no idea what I'd just done.

"Oh, yeah. Do it again. Suck on it."

What? Why the fuck would I do that?

Two seconds into it and I could see why. Katara buried her hands in her hair and moaned like I'd never heard before. It was almost freaky. When I finally released it with a pop, a laugh burst out of her.

"Holy shit, Aang," she whispered.

I came up and we giggled at each other in the darkness. She reached down and my hands found the zipper of her jeans. I pulled it down, ever so slowly, and she raised her hips and wiggled out as I pulled off the dark skinny jeans. Her panties were blue and trimmed with lace, with a sweet little bow at the top. It was like entering the Promised Land.

"I don't want to have sex tonight, Aang," she said.

"Me neither, hun, don't worry." I paused. "I mean, I _do_ want to have sex with you, but I'm not going to – "

"I get it," she laughed. "Thank you for respecting my decisions."

"Of course, hun." I laid down beside her and kissed and nuzzled her neck. She laughed and laid her beautiful brown head beside me. One of my hands was holding her, but the other was slowly travelling down her smooth stomach, to the slight swell of her stomach at her hips…she sighed as my fingers slowly made circles in the soft skin right above her pantyline…I looked at her, and she smiled at me, and then one finger slipped underneath her panty –

"WE'RE HOME!"

Both of us froze.

"Dude, _such_ a good restaurant…fucking loved it…we might even have gotten – "

"Katara? Aang?" Sokka yelled. "Where are you two? What are you doing?"

Three sets of footsteps walked down the hall and someone banged on the door, which I'd judiciously locked to prevent Appa from cockblocking. Katara and I looked at each other in panic.

"What are you doing?" Sokka yelled. "Come out here, right now!"

"Go away!" Katara yelled.

"Dude, they're hooking up, what the fuck do you think?" Zuko said.

"YOU TELL ME YOU ARE NOT HOOKING UP!"

"Sokka, mind your own business!" Katara barked. "We are having alone time, and you should go have alone time elsewhere!"

"AANG! What are you doing to my baby sister?"

It came out before I could stop it. "Nothing she doesn't want me to!"

The reactions were instantaneous. Katara buried her head in my shoulder of embarrassment, Sokka screamed, and Toph and Zuko whooped in delight.

"Get it, girl!" Toph cried.

"Fuck yeah!" Zuko said.

"NOOOOO!" Sokka screamed.

Katara picked her head up, now struggling to stop laughing, and said, "Sokka, mind your own damn business and go away!"

"Not until you come out of there!"

"Not coming out!"

"Aang, let Katara leave!"

"She doesn't want to leave!"

"Of course she does!"

"No, I really don't!"

"I don't wanna come out the closet…" Suddenly Toph was singing and playing her guitar. "I'm up in this closet…don't wanna come out this closet…"

I burst out laughing as Sokka yelled, "Toph, what the _fuck_?"

"I be up in this closet…don't know what I'm doing in this closet…"

Katara was dying on the bed. "Toph, stop it – "

"Those aren't even the lyrics! Have you even watched it?"

"You've watched all of 'Trapped in the Closet'?" Zuko said.

"Sokka's in the closet…he don't wanna come out no closet…he be up in this closet…"

"Toph, stop it!"

"The only way to make me stop is to join in! Here, how about this – Now I'm not tryna be rude, but hey pretty girl I'm feelin' you, the way you do the things you do, remind me of my Lexus coup – "

And then suddenly Zuko was singing along. "So baby gimme that toot toot, I'mma give you that beep beep, running her hands through my fro, bouncin' on 24s, while they say on the radio – "

"Sokka, get your goddamn guitar and sing with us! It's the remix to ignition, hot and fresh out the kitchen, mama rollin' that body got every man in here wishin' – "

Apparently Sokka had decided if you can't beat em, join em, because there was another guitar and Sokka's voice singing, "Sippin' on Coke and rum, I'm like 'So what, I'm drunk', it's the freakin' weekend baby I'm bout to have me some fun!"

"Just ignore them," Katara whispered as she drew me in for a kiss. But it was becoming increasingly difficult, because it sounded like they had sat on the ground outside our door and were now reaching the song's climax –

"Then after the show it's the after party, and after the party it's the hotel lobby, round about 4 you gotta clear the lobby, then take it to the room and – "

"FUCK SOMEBODY!" Toph bellowed

"READ THE BIBLE!" Sokka screamed.

Katara couldn't stop laughing, her breath coming in snorts as she ran her hands over my chest. "Oh my God…what the hell…"

"Have you watched 'Trapped in the Closet'? It's pretty good."

She gave me the worst death glare I'd ever seen and continued kissing. Outside, they had moved on to singing 'Candy Shop'.

"I'll take you to the candy shop…I'll let you lick the lollipop…go ahead, girl, don't you stop…keep going till you hit the spot…_whoa_!"

"Does anyone actually know the lyrics to this song?"

"No, but it can't be that hard – Sexual innuendo about candy! Sexual innuendo about candy!"

"My dick's like a lollipop! Lick it!"

"Candy pussy! Candy pussy!"

"Sokka, that doesn't even make sense!"

"CANDY PUSSY!"

"My fucking tits are like candy mountains!"

"We're going to Candy Mountain, Charlie!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, ZUKO."

"Suck my candy flavored dick! SUCK IT!"

"Candy shop! Sexual innuendos! Katara's got skin like chocolate, eat that shit up!"

"Fuckin' NO, Toph!"

"SEXUAL INNUENDO ABOUT CANDY, GODDAMN IT!"

"Take you to the candy shop, Aang!"

Even I was blushing. "Is this necessary?" I called out.

"50 CENT'S THE LOOOOOVE DOCTOR, AANG!"

"We're providing background music to your lovemaking!"

"THERE IS NO LOVE MAKING, GODDAMN IT!"

"There will be unless you stop singing," Katara yelled.

"Ooh, love is like a bomb, baby c'mon get it on – "

"Stop that, Toph!"

"Livin' like a lover with a radar phone, lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp – "

"Shut up! That is too sexual! _Ow_!"

Apparently the guitar had been snatched away from him, because now Zuko was strumming and singing, "Demolition woman, can I be your man? Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet, little miss innocent, _sugar me_!"

"Take a bottle – shake it up – break the bubble – break it up - "

I decided to take advantage of this opportunity and got on top of Katara, making out with her passionately as they sang,

"_Pour some sugar on me_! Ooh, in the name of love! Pour some sugar on me! C'mon, fire me up!"

It really was a fabulous song to make out to, and Toph was taking the guitar solos so it sounded pretty sweet.

"You got the peaches, I got the cream! Sweet to taste, saccharine! Cause I'm _hot_, sticky sweet, from my head to my feet!"

"Yeah, you are," I whispered to her, as she giggled and wrapped her hands around my neck.

"They stopped talking! So they ARE getting busy! POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME!" Toph shouted at the top of her lungs as Appa started barking. Zuko whooped along as Sokka cried.

"I suppose there are worse ways to make out," she whispered.

We made them wait outside while we made out for a while longer, interspersed with giggling as they struggled through 'Physical'. Finally, we got up and put our clothes on as they were slowly destroying 'Sexy Can I'.

"Sexy can I, just pardon my manners, girl how you shake it makes a player like _oooooh_…it's a Kodak moment, let me go and get my camera – "

"Is this about how he had a sex tape with Kim Kardashian?"

"I assume so, why the hell else would anyone use a Kodak?"

"It's an _expression_, Sokka."

"Hit it from the front, then I hit it from the back, oh you like it like that?"

"Really, these are terrible lyrics."

"I know, we should've done 'Fuck You'."

"But that's not about _sex_, I wanted to do 'I'll Make Love to You'."

"This guitar has never played Boyz II Men, and I would like to keep it that way for as long as humanely possible, thank you."

"Okay, well, I still say we fuck it and do 'Afternoon Delight', the three of us can harmonize great – "

"Wait, they're moving in there! Are they done?"

"Get ready!"

Katara and I looked at each other. They'd gone quiet outside. Slowly, we opened the door.

"I JUST HAD SEX! And it felt _sooo_ good!"

Toph, Sokka and Zuko were all standing outside the door, Sokka having taken the ukulele so Toph and Zuko could take the guitars. Toph was jumping up and down and it looked like Sokka was about to die.

"A woman let me put my penis inside her! I just had _seeeex_, and I'll never go back to the not-having-sex-ways of the past!"

Katara's face turned bright red and she stuck her face in my shoulder. I was just cracking up.

"She kept looking at her watch – "

"Doesn't matter, I had sex!" Toph sang.

"But I cried the whole time?"

"Doesn't matter, I had sex!"

"I think she might've been a racist," Zuko said.

"Doesn't matter, I had sex!"

"She put a bag on my head!"

"STILL COUNTS!" Toph screamed. "I just had sex – "

"_Guys_," Katara interrupted, "we didn't have sex."

They all stopped.

"Oh, thank God," Sokka whispered.

"Yeah, we didn't even get past second base," I said.

"So what were you doing in there that whole time?" Toph crossed her arms.

"Cuddling," I said with a smile.

Toph rolled her eyes. "I just sang some of the best love-making songs in all of music history for you two to _cuddle_?"

"And I've never been so grateful," Sokka said.

"I actually sang," Zuko said, himself looking surprised.

"And don't worry, we enjoyed every minute of it," Katara said with a smile.

Suddenly we heard a voice from the other end of the house – "Really, guys, what's with all the ruckus?"

"Aang and Katara – "

Sokka slapped a hand over Toph's mouth as we all descended in laughter. I squeezed Katara close and thought that a year ago I never would have imagined myself here.

Some things really did turn out for the better.

* * *

**:) Hope you all enjoyed that fun chapter! It took way longer than it should have, but whatevskis. We needed a break from angst (though there's always more to come). Songs used in this chapter include the epic 'Trapped in the Closet' by R. Kelly, 'Ignition Remix', also by R. Kelly, 'Pour Some Sugar on Me' by Def Leppard, 'Sexy Can I' by some generic rapper, 'Candy Shop' by 50 Cent, and 'I Just Had Sex' by Lonely Island and Akon.**

**This chapter is jointly dedicated: first, to all of you, for continuing to read and review this clusterfuck of a story; and second, to the bartenders at the country saloon last weekend who did not judge me when I danced on the bar afer a lot of Malibu rum to none other than 'Pour Some Sugar on Me'. Next chapter includes some more Zuko (finally) and more of the Sokka/Toph drama! I LOVE YOU ALL! - PVB  
**


	28. Come Crashing

**300 reviews? YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!**

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Come Crashing**

* * *

Living with Katara had its advantages and disadvantages. Zuko probably could have called this before he moved in, but it had never been more clear than now that APs were upon them. On one hand, he always had a study partner.

On the other hand, he _always _had a study partner.

"Dude, Kat," he finally said one afternoon, "when was the last time you showered?"

"Not important," she replied, flipping through her AP Art History flashcards. She was wearing the same sweatpants as the past two days, and her braid was beginning to look pointedly…uck.

"Very important," he replied, turning around from his desk. They'd kicked Sokka out a long time ago and were making AP camp in the boys' room. "You need to shower."

"Showering is for the weak."

"No, smelling like the underside of hell is for the weak."

"The Rhodes sculptor didn't shower!"

"_Who_?"

She groaned and put down her flashcards. "Do you have _any_ appreciation for the fine arts?"

"Do you know _anything_ about Calculus?"

"Don't need to, I'm going to be an art teacher."

"Well, I'm going to be a businessman, so I don't need to know art. Don't get off topic. You're taking a shower today."

"The test is in four days and I don't have _anything_ past Abstract Expressionism memorized! You're going to have to make me."

Goddamn it, she had that fiery look in her eyes. The look she got when she really meant what she said. Zuko weighed his options.

"Okay," he responded. Then he walked over and scooped her up in his arms.

"_Zuko_! Goddamn it, put me down!"

"In a moment, milady," he said, walking to the bathroom. He kicked the door open with his foot and dumped her unceremoniously on the floor. While she spluttered, he grabbed a chair from Aang's room and stuck it under the doorknob.

"_Zuko Agni_!" She shrieked. "You let me out of this bathroom this _instant_!"

"Not until you shower!" He replied. "And don't just turn on the water for fifteen minutes, I'm going to know better than that."

The stony silence on the other side of the door told him that that was exactly what she was planning.

Aang came ambling down the hall and paused when he saw Zuko. "What are you doing?"

"AANG! Oh, thank God – Zuko locked me in the bathroom, you have to let me out!"

"Did you really just lock my girlfriend in the bathroom?" Aang asked.

"She hasn't showered in like five days."

"Oh. Yeah, I did notice that. Well, in that case, carry on."

And Aang walked back down the hall as Katara shrieked.

"Zuko, I swear to God, when I get out of this bathroom, I'm going to fucking – "

"Do whatever you want to me," he said, "as long as you are clean. And I mean fully clean, Katara. Hair washed included. I will not let you out of this bathroom until I see wet, washed hair and clean skin. I'm not going to study with a cesspool of bacteria."

Katara continued to rant and rave, but Zuko rolled his eyes, went back into the room and closed the door. After a few minutes of frantic yelling, she finally quieted down. And after that, the sound of the shower came on. Zuko smiled at his victory. Katara might be crazy about her studies, but he knew that she couldn't actually go _that_ long without taking a shower.

His phone vibrated, and he pulled it out to read his text, assuming it was from Sokka or someone like that.

_I want to talk to you._

It was Azula.

Zuko blinked for a few moments, staring at those words. He'd been giving Azula her space, figuring there was simply too much for him to attempt to explain if she wasn't willing to listen. As always, he tried to figure out the hidden meaning behind her words.

But it didn't look like there was one.

He texted back, _Okay, no problem. Where/when?_

_Your house. Can you get everyone to leave?_

He figured as much. There was still too much for her to be able to talk to the rest of them.

_Sure. Come over in half an hour?_

_Yes._

He bit his lip as he stared at the screen. Which Azula would he be seeing tonight? Evil, bitchy Azula? Or the sister that had just had her entire life flipped upside down?

He walked outside and opened the bathroom door without peeking inside.

"I'm showering, can't you see?"

"Listen, Kat, I need you guys to leave the house for a little bit."

She poked her head out through the shower curtain, soap bubbles all in her long hair. "Why?"

"Azula wants to come over."

Katara's face slipped. "Oh, gosh."

Zuko nodded.

"Okay, well, go round up everyone else, and I'll finish up here."

He thanked God that his roommates were so cool. Grandpa immediately said that he would take them out to the zoo for a day, and everyone left, wishing Zuko good luck. He brewed a huge pot of rose hips tea and waited, his heart pounding.

Finally, he heard the soft purr of her red Jaguar, coming up in the driveway. She hurried up to the door, her eyes down like she was worried someone would see her, and rang the doorbell.

He opened the door and at first thought he was going to get silent Azula. She had her hair down in one braid over her shoulder, her cast hanging from her side, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. She met his eyes.

"Hey, Zula," he said.

"Hey."

He motioned her inside, and she walked in, her eyes roving around the house, with its Buddhist mandalas all over the place and feng shui furniture arrangements. He poured her tea in a cast iron cup with a dragon and handed it to her. She nodded and drank wordlessly. Her gold eyes roved around aimlessly.

Zuko sat, drinking his own tea, unsure of what to say. They hadn't really talked since the hospital. Her legs were clenched tightly together.

"I had take plan B," she said suddenly.

Zuko seized up.

"Obviously he didn't use a condom. The nurses said it was just a precaution. I vomited for hours. My period was still late, but I think I'm in the clear now. The doctor said the trauma might still have permanently scarred me down there. I might not be able to have a child."

Zuko tried to reach her with his eyes, but she kept her eyes locked to the ground, her face defeated.

"Azula…I'm so sorry."

"Me too," she said.

The thought of Azula as a mother was terrifying, but he remembered her saying as a child that if she had a daughter she would name her after Ursa, their mother. And the thought of her dreams getting crushed was enough to make his stoic heart break.

"What's it like living here?" she asked.

"Do you want me to answer honestly, or tell you what you want to hear?"

"I don't know what I want to hear."

"It's really awesome," he admitted. "Grandpa – Aang's grandpa, his name is Gyatso – is so cool. He cooks for us and always wanted to hear about our days. He said he was proud of me for my last A in Calc." Both of them knew Ezain had never said that. "And the five of us get along really well. It's a lot of fun. I just feel…accepted. Like I belong here. I know they'd be so upset if I had to leave."

She processed, rolling her tongue around in her mouth. "And where are Mai and Ty Lee?"

"Living with Ty Lee's sister."

"And you guys were the ones who destroyed Ozai's mansion?"

"Yes."

"How did it feel?"

"Incredible," he admitted.

She took another sip of tea, her eyes closed shut.

"Rosehips," she said.

"Yeah. Your favorite."

"You remembered."

"Cause I love you, Azula."

He didn't mean for it to come out like that, but it did. She was a bitch and cruel and she'd spent most of her childhood bashing his dreams and she'd threatened to kill most of his friends, but she was still the sister that used to burn stuff with him in the backyard, the one that begrudgingly comforted him when Mom died, the sister that bought him booze when he and Ozai hung out and would go off to visit her friends with a wave of her hands, allowing him the privacy he'd so desperately needed. He had a feeling that she'd never tried to fight the abuse from their father because she wanted to protect him from the same fate. She'd always been aware of being the oldest.

Azula opened her eyes and looked at her, her face lined and her eyes filled with tears. Zuko couldn't help it. He jumped up and caught her in a hug. After a moment, she hugged him back, letting her head rest on his shoulder.

Of course it only lasted for a few minutes, but afterwards she rubbed the tears from her eyes and said, "I'm going to Kai University next year. In the Fire District."

"I'm glad! I know you wanted to go there."

She nodded. "Now understand, Zuko, I can't leave the house. And Ozai and I are broken up, but I can't go all Stockholm Syndrome like you."

He nodded. Where was she getting with this?

"I don't want social revolution. I want to go back to the Fire District, away from Dad, away from Ozai, closer to Mom's grave. I want to forget about all this shit. I'm tired and the healing process is taking way longer than I thought. So I'm not going to stand on top of the roofs and wave a banner saying 'Aang for Prom King'. Dad might actually kill me."

He nodded, hope suddenly bubbling in his heart.

"But I'll tell you this." Her gold eyes, which had been dull for so long, were suddenly sharp and filled with fire, like the Azula he'd always known. "I know the truth as well as you do. The truth about the lengths to which Dad and Azulon are willing to go for their plans. I didn't think they'd throw _me_ under the bus. And _nobody_ treats Azula Agni like that and gets away with it."

"So though it probably doesn't mean much," she said, her voice steady, "I'm voting for Aang for Prom King."

It was like the clouds had been lifted.

"Azula," he replied, "it means the whole world."

She actually smiled. "Don't go making a big deal out of it. Tell your little friends if you want. I'm still not going to acknowledge them in the halls. But if I have any friends left, I'll try and convince them too."

"Thank you so much," he said. "Oh, my God, thank you."

"No problem, ZuZu." She stood up to go, putting her tea cup in the sink. She seemed to walk taller, her back a little straighter. She allowed him to give her another hug at the door as she fished for her keys.

"Is the Water District girl running for Prom Queen?" she asked.

"I don't know, we haven't really talked about it. Katara probably would like it, though."

"Well, tell her to put her name in. If I lost to her, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

Who was this girl and what had happened to Azula?

"Besides, I'm about a foot taller than Aang, we'd look stupid dancing together."

Ah, there it was.

"Will do, Zula," he said with a smile. "Tell Dad I hate him!"

"That makes two of us," she said, managing a wave as she walked down to her car. He watched her drive off, leaning in the doorway, and smiled.

"Ozai, not even you could break my sister," he said aloud.

* * *

Spring was in the air. Katara shed her heavy jeans and coats for shorts and t-shirts as she panicked over APs, mercifully clean now. Appa was shedding, leaving chunks of creamy white fur around the house for them to pick up. Aang went on long runs around the neighborhood. Zuko was finally forced to get a haircut, and he said he actually preferred the way he was cooler with less hair.

And Sokka watched Toph from the porch.

She was apparently doing reading for her history class, but everyone knew better. She had her iPod in and was mouthing words to herself as her fingers rarely moved across the page. There was a tall lemonade in her hand and she was wearing just her booty shorts, those thick white legs finally getting some sun as she lay in the grass outside. With her cane tossed to the side, it looked like she was actually at peace.

Sokka wanted to join her, wanted to partake in this peace. Because he hadn't really been at peace since everything went down. They were fine, they were on speaking terms, but she only really talked to him when they were in the big group, and he missed the times when he would sit in her room and they'd play guitar together. He wasn't sure where to go. Did she know he was sorry? She hadn't freaked out or cut herself, not that they could tell, but that almost made it more complicated for him. He'd never been good at reading her emotions.

The door slammed shut, and he heard the ragged breaths of Aang coming back from a run. Sokka turned around as his roommate walked up, sweat leaking through his shirt, as he tried to wipe off his forehead.

"Are you being a creeper again?" Aang said.

"Shut up."

"You know, you could try _talking_ to her. It's what civilized people do."

"I'm working on it. How was your run?"

"Hot. Don't change the subject. Are you going to ask her to Prom or not?"

"I mean, yes, obviously, but – "

"Then you gotta mend things before you go doing that!"

Sokka rolled his eyes as Katara's voice came from her room – "He's right, Sokka."

"Shouldn't you be studying?"

"Shouldn't you not be a jackass?"

Sokka curled his lip and thought as Aang ambled off to the kitchen to get water. _To be fair_, he thought, _Toph sucks at expressing her emotions too. I've never even seen her do it, except when she's got cigarettes or razors or a guitar –_

Fuckin' _duh_!

Aang had said it himself, a while back, when they were watching her fight.

"Aang!"

"What?"

"Have you learned any more guitar?"

"Toph taught me like three chords, but it's not like I've been practicing or anything – "

"ZUKO!"

No answer.

"Zuko, I know you can hear me, damn it!"

"What?" he yelled from his room.

"You play guitar, don't you?"

"Not really, just a few chords."

"Ugh. Well, do you play anything else? Like bass or drums?"

Zuko stuck his head out of his room. "Why?"

"Don't ask questions. Do you?"

"I played drums in middle school band, yeah, but that's about it."

"Hmm." Sokka stroked his chin. "Okay, we can work with that."

"If you want a bassist for whatever idiotic plan you're concocting, Mai plays bass."

"_Really_?" Sokka snapped his head around.

"Yeah, she's actually good too. She's been playing since she was a kid. She's been in all kinds of goth girl bands."

Sokka continued to stroke an imaginary beard.

"Dude, what are you planning?" Aang said.

"Another shot at the girl," he replied.

* * *

None of them definitely knew what they were doing as they plugged in amps and mics. Zuko was disgruntled as he attempted to tune the terribly out-of-tune drumset that they'd borrowed from the jazz band, but Mai had a small smile as she tuned her bass, looking more at home than Aang had seen her all year. Aang himself loved the feel of that guitar against his hips, the weight of it on his neck. A small crowd stood in the back of the room, with Meng jumping up and down and Suki smiling with her girls. The only one who looked like he was going to shit himself was Sokka.

"Dude, there's no way this is going to work," he whispered to Aang. "She's gonna hate it, she's gonna call me an asshole and walk away again."

"It's gonna work fine," Aang replied. "She doesn't hate you, she's just confused. Plus, this song is awesome. And it's your only chance, since neither of you can talk about your feelings for shit."

"Thanks, Mr. _Sensitive_. You try dating a female MMA fighter and tell me how your manliness feels afterwards."

Aang rolled his eyes, and then Katara's voice came through the hall. "Thanks for coming, honey, it really means a lot…"

"Well, I don't exactly know what's going on, but whatever…just as long as it's nothing embarrassing…"

Katara's face was popping with excitement as she dragged Toph into the gym. A smile spread over Sokka's face. Just wearing blue jeans and a green t-shirt, her hair in a bun, she was still stunning. The crowd tittered and Toph narrowed her eyes and looked around.

"What's going on - ?"

Time to come clean. Sokka cleared his throat in the mic and his amplified voice made Toph straighten up. "Uh…hey, Toph."

"Sokka? What _is_ this?"

"This…" he hesitated. "This is me, trying to…I don't know. But please just listen, okay? Mai and Zuko and Aang and I are here, and I'm gonna…tell you how I feel, okay?"

She was caught off guard, her eyebrows narrowed, but Sokka knew this was his only chance. He looked back at Zuko, who counted off.

"One, two," he said, clicking his sticks, "one, two, three, four – "

**(I normally don't do this, but this scene will be so much better if you listen to the song: **

**go to YouTube and put this after the dot-com part: /watch?v=nd4j1Ms1VYE****)**

Sokka started on the lead guitar, playing the lead chords as Mai took the piano part on the bass. Aang strummed along and Zuko waited. Toph's face changed as she realized what song it was, but Sokka took a deep breath and sang into the mic –

"I can't fight this feeling any longer – and yet I'm still afraid to let it flow…"

Katara and the girls screamed as Toph wrapped her arms around herself, like she couldn't believe this was happening to her.

"What started out as friendship has grown stronger…I only wish I had the strength to let it show…"

Sokka poured his whole heart into the lyrics, trying to say with his voice what he'd never be able to say with his face, trying to reach into the heart of the broken blind girl in the one language she truly spoke.

"I tell myself that I can't hold out forever, I said there's no reason for my fear…cause I feel so secure when we're together. You give my life direction, you make everything so clear – "

Aang and Mai joined in on backup vocals, which Mai looked very disgruntled about, but Sokka couldn't pay attention to haters, not when Toph's eyes were so wide as they were now.

"Cause even as I wander, I'm keeping you in sight – you're a candle in the window on a cold, dark winter's night! And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might – "

Zuko suddenly slammed on the drums, the whole music reached a crescendo, Toph's eyes strained upward, and Sokka sang out –

"Cause I can't fight this feeling anymore! I've forgotten what I started fighting for… It's time to bring this ship into shore, and throw away the oars, forever – "

He looked her dead in the eyes, willing her to reach out in her darkness and feel him, and sang -

"Cause I can't fight this feeling anymore…I've forgotten what I've started fighting for! And if I have to crawl upon the floor, come _crashing_ through your door, baby, I can't fight this feeling anymore!"

Everyone was screaming and Toph had a hand pressed to her mouth, her whole body looking so vulnerable, her eyes wide and searching. Sokka's heart jumped up. Did this mean he had a chance?

"My life has been such a whirlwind since I saw you…I've been running round in circles in my mind. And it always seems like I'm following you, girl – cause you take me to the places, that alone I'd _never_ find!"

Katara was crying, her fingers pressed to her mouth, and Toph looked like she was on the verge, and Sokka just swallowed and finished –

"Cause I can't fight this feeling anymore…I've forgotten what I started fighting for. And if I have to crawl upon the floor, come crashing through your door…" he took a deep breath. "Baby, I can't fight this feeling anymore."

They finished on a final chord and the whole room cheered. But everyone's eyes were on Toph, as she kept one hand pressed to her mouth and one hand wrapped around her middle, shaking in her blue jeans.

"Toph," Sokka said, his voice resounding through the gym, "I'm sorry. I'm telling you in front of all these people, I'm so sorry. I never want to hurt you. I love you, and if you give me another chance, I really think we've got a chance at something great, and I'll never hurt you again. So I guess what I'm saying is…" he swallowed. "Will you go to Prom with me?"

The entire room erupted in cheers, even from the band, who didn't know that this was at the end. Toph pressed both hands to her mouth now as real tears spilled from her eyes. She looked up at them with those mystical, green-white eyes, and Sokka swore she was trying to look for him.

She turned to Katara and said something softly. Katara immediately went and grabbed her cane and gave it to her, and Toph wrapped the loop around her wrist and tapped her way to the stage, taking out her hair elastic on the way so that all of her long black hair fell over her chest. Aang helped her up the stairs, and finally she was on the stage, a few feet away from Sokka. She turned to Aang and asked,

"Can I borrow the guitar?"

Aang immediately slipped it off and she let her cane fall and slipped the strap over her own shoulders. Then she looked up, all of her hair down, wearing her tank top and guitar, and Sokka knew she was about to do something she didn't normally do.

"I'm not exactly fantastic at expressing my emotions either," she said, her voice trembling, "but I want you to know that this is going to be the first and last time I ever play this song, so… you better enjoy that it's for you, okay?"

**(/watch?v=5V430M59Yn8)**

Sokka just nodded, not knowing what was going on. Toph rubbed her lips together, took a deep breath, and formed a chord. The sound came out soft through the amps, her fingers gently strumming, playing the guitar like only she could. Moving closer to the mic, she sang, in a soft voice,

"Wise men say…only fools rush in…"

Sokka suddenly realized what she was singing, and his own eyes almost filled with tears.

"But I can't help…falling in love with you…" she sang, smiling through her tears.

Katara was flat-out sobbing now, and all the girls in the crowd sighing and oohing. Mai struck up a slow bassline, and Zuko grabbed the brushes and kept tempo.

"Shall I stay? Would it be a sin? If I can't help falling in love with you…" Her voice was so sure, so soft, her smile sweeter than any he'd ever seen.

"Like a river flows surely to the sea, darling so it goes – some things are meant to be…"

He couldn't believe she was singing this song to him, that he was getting this song sung to him at all, and that this beautiful strong girl was standing here with a guitar showing him every piece of her broken heart, the heart that he himself had broken.

"Take my hand…take my whole life too…" A little sob escaped from her. "But I can't help falling in love with you!"

He couldn't stop it. He picked up his guitar and started singing too.

"Like a river flows surely to the sea, darling so it goes – some things are meant to be. So take my hand…take my whole life too…" They really made a perfect harmony. "For I can't help falling in love with you…for I can't help falling in love…with you."

They finished on a soft chord as everyone around them cheered. And they looked at each other, as much as two people can look at each other when one is blind, and Toph was smiling and crying at the same time.

"Yes," she finally said.

Then she slung her guitar over her back, walked forward and kissed him like it was the last thing she'd ever do on earth.

Sokka closed his eyes and kissed her back, thanking God that at least for this one moment, everything was right in the world.

* * *

**Awww fluff! I really hope this wasn't too cheesy, but I don't know, I think that this would actually happen. Plus yaaaay Tokka! I guess you guys all know how I truly ship :) So I'm gonna be in Cali this weekend so I don't know how much time I'll have to write/when I'll be able to update, but next chapter's another fun one, kind of a last hurrah for the Gaang before we get into Prom craziness!**

**Thank you all SO MUCH for getting me to 300 reviews! You guys cream my twinkie :) with all the love in my Avatard heart - PVB**


	29. The Adventures of the Fab Five

**Oh my word I'm so sorry I haven't updated! It must feel like forever! Life has been absolutely crazy on my end. But this is a really long chapter, so I hope that makes up for it! Don't own Avatar!**

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Adventures of the Fab Five**

* * *

"You have to open it."

"I don't want to."

"Well, you have to."

All six of us huddled around the kitchen table, staring at the envelope in Sokka's hand.

"It's a small envelope, that's a bad sign."

"Not necessarily, plenty of schools are sending it in small packages nowadays. Come on, you have to open it!"

Sokka bit his lip and slowly started to slide his finger under the envelope lip. Zuko had his fingers dug into my shoulder. The blue insignia of College de Agua, shiny and embossed, sat in the corner.

The envelope opened, and Sokka pulled out a single piece of paper. I didn't know anything about college admissions, but I knew this was usually a bad sign. We all held our breaths as he read, his bright blue eyes scanning the page.

"_Well_?" Katara and Toph said.

He sighed.

"Oh, no," I said.

"Well, kids, sometimes life throws you hurdles…"

"Oh, _Sokka_," Katara whispered.

"But not today! I GOT IN, BITCHES!"

We all screamed as Sokka threw his hands up. Katara immediately grabbed the paper, read the first line, and started screaming too. "Sokka! Twenty thousand in financial aid! That'll pay for most of it!"

Zuko and Grandpa cheered and screamed, Appa ran around barking, I clapped Sokka on the back before he scooped Toph up in his arms and started kissing her. Katara jumped up and down, screaming at the top of her lungs, and Grandpa said, "Baby back ribs tonight to celebrate!"

We all whooped and cheered, all of us hugging and congratulating Sokka. Katara gave him the longest hug I'd ever seen, her eyes filled with tears.

"I'm so proud of you," she whispered. "I'm _so proud_. Dad and Gran-Gran are proud too."

"I'll give him a call right now," he said, beaming, and he ran off to his room. All of us collapsed into the dining table as my heart began to slow down. Zuko was reading the letter now.

"Guys, this college is in the Water District," he said.

"Yeah, it's right on the border," Katara said.

"But that means he wouldn't be here next year," Toph said, as all the joy slipped from her face.

None of us had realized that. Suddenly the atmosphere of joy had faded, as we all looked at each other with terror on our faces. _No Sokka next year_?

"Didn't he apply to Capital College too?" I said.

"Yeah, but we haven't heard from them yet," Katara said.

Even Grandpa looked up from the telephone where he was ordering ribs to give us all a sad and inquisitive glance.

Katara wrung her hands. "I've only been separated from Sokka once in my life, and that was when he went here for a year before me. It was awful…I didn't have any friends…"

"We just got together!" Toph screamed, throwing her hands up. "I don't want to be separated right away!"

"We can't do it without Sokka," Zuko said. The fact that even he was scared meant it was a bad sign.

When Sokka came out, still beaming, he found us all sober and sour.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"College de Aqua is in the Water District," Katara said. "You'd be separated from us next year."

Sokka exhaled. "Yeah, I know." He sat down and immediately Katara grabbed for his hand. He squeezed back.

"I mean, is this college your top pick?" Zuko said. "Do you really like it?"

"I don't know much about it, honestly," Sokka said. "It's my dad's alma mater, that's why I applied. But I've never been there. They've got good design programs, which is what I want to do, and good sports, but other than that I don't really know much about it."

"Well, you can't make your decision based on that," Grandpa said, coming over to sit down with us. "If you get accepted to Capital College, you'll automatically pick that without knowing anything about this other school."

"But it's in the Water District, I can't just go there."

"I mean, next week is spring break," Katara said. "It's not like it's that far. It's probably a day and a half's drive. You could go and visit."

Sokka stroked his imaginary beard and thought about it for a second, and then looked up with a big smile. "_We_ can go! We can road trip, the five of us!"

We looked at each other. A road trip?

"I like it," Toph immediately declared. "The five of us in the Mustang, taking on the Water District."

"Nobody's _taking on_ anything," Katara said, exasperated. "Sokka, I don't know…I don't really want to spend the money on a hotel…"

"Who needs a hotel?" Sokka said. "It's warm, we'll be on the main highway, we can just camp! It's only for a night, we can grab a hotel when we're at the school."

"I don't _camp_," Zuko said, his arms crossed.

"No, we should do it," I spoke up. "Our last time together before Prom! One way or another, Sokka's gotta move out of here next year. I think a road trip would be epic!"

"It's like a four-day trip! Nothing crazy! I've been saving up my money, Katara, we can totally do it!"

"Grandpa," she said, turning to him, "what do you think about this idea?"

"I think it's fantastic," he said.

"_What_?" We all said.

"I always loved the times I spent outdoors with my friends. Your generation spends far too much time indoors. Plus, Katara and Zuko's APs will be done by the end of the week, and you two _desperately_ need some time off."

"For your mental health, Kat," Toph said. "You need this time."

"And Zuko can sleep in the car cause he's a pussy," Sokka said. "The backseat's big enough."

"I don't know…" Katara said.

"Katara," Toph said, screwing up her face, "if you agree to go on this roadtrip, I will…I will…watch one Hilary Duff movie of your choice with you, and I will…play with your hair."

Katara's whole face lit up. "_Really_?"

All of us stared, not believing Toph was willing to make this kind of sacrifice. Toph herself looked like she had just swallowed warm elephant piss.

"Yes, really," she replied. "And if you want, I will let you believe that you have helped matchmake my relationship."

"Do you even know _how_ to play with hair?" Zuko said.

Toph flipped him off, and Katara pondered.

"Well, I guess, if Grandpa says it's okay…and I do love Hilary Duff…okay, I'm in. Let's go to the Water District."

Sokka jumped on top of the table, making the whole table shake.

"Let the filming of 'The Fab Five: Love, Danger and Mustangs in the Land of Aqua' commence!" He yelled.

"God save me now," Zuko muttered.

* * *

So three days, four AP tests, and 300 dollars of supplies later, the five of us hugged Grandpa, Appa and Momo goodbye and piled into the Mustang with the top down. We had to stop at the liquor store first, where Toph jumped out and came back with two armfuls of various alcohol.

"Since I am denied the privileges of driving and watching the scenery roll around, I get to drink. Here, squeeze this in the backseat," she said, passing it over her shoulder to us (she'd called shawty on the front seat almost as soon as we knew we were going). I felt several six packs of beer, a couple fifths of random stuff, and a handle of –

"_Whiskey_?" I said, pulling it out. The wind whipped over my head as we drove down the streets. "Toph, this stuff is gross!"

"It's a road trip essential!" She called. The wind throwing her bangs back made her look so free. "Don't worry, mix it with some coke and y'all will be thanking me I brought that."

Katara smiled and shook her head. Her, Sokka and I were crammed into the backseat, as Zuko steered the car with one hand on the wheel, looking perfectly at ease. I loved the wind flying by us, making the plastic bags of liquor wave. Toph was hooking up the FM transmitter, and when she was done, she turned to us.

"Here commences the official rules and laws of The Fab Five's official soiree into Love, Danger, Whiskey and Mustangs. All present, say aye."

"Aye," we all chorused.

"Present – Toph Akina Beifong, presiding judge."

"Who the fuck says you get to be the judge?" Zuko said.

"Because I'm disabled. Affirmative Action, bitch." Zuko rolled his eyes, and Toph continued –

"Driving duty will be shared between Zuko, Sokka and Katara. Switches will be made when one person becomes tired, or when said driver is being a car whore. Minimum driving time required is forty-five minutes. Each person will receive one hour at a time to choose the music, on a rotating basis. If your music sucks ass, we have the right, by vote, to unplug your shit and put something better on. Privileges of shotgun will also rotate whenever we stop for rests. All alcohol must go through me. I am allowed to drink whenever the fuck I want. The rest of you may drink when we stop at night, or when you have done a fair amount of driving for the day and you wish to stop. When we reach College de Agua, we will all pretend to be functioning human beings, agreed?"

"Agreed," we all said.

"Alright – first music hour goes to the first person in the group to confirm that they have seen my pussy."

We all thought about it for a second, before Katara said, "Hey, wait – "

"I've seen your pussy!" Sokka cried. "I even stuck my dick inside it!"

"You're the _only_ one who's seen her pussy!" Zuko snapped. I was just laughing.

"Well, then, maybe the rest of you shoulda tapped this. Hatori – " she said, passing him the FM transmitter. He whipped out his iPod and plugged it in. Almost immediately, Rascal Flatts filled the speakers.

"Life's like a road that you travel on, there's one day here and the next day gone – "

"Uh, fuck, I forgot you liked country," Toph groaned, leaning back in the seat with her feet up on the dash.

"Feet down, ratchet bitch," Zuko said.

"Bite me."

"Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand, sometimes you turn your back to the wind – "

"Pass me the whiskey," Toph said, reaching a hand back. I passed it to her, and she cracked upon the wax seal, tossing it out the window. Then she took a big drink, straight from the bottle, as we left the capital and headed onto open roads.

Sokka's country music took us far, as Zuko's quick driving moved us at 75 miles an hour past the suburbs and out into open cattle territory. I had gotten bitch middle seat, which I didn't mind, since I could lay my head on Katara. She let her braid out and her long hair flapped in the wind, a big smile on her face. Sokka jammed out on an invisible air guitar (the real guitars and ukulele were stored in the max capacity trunk), and even Zuko looked happy. We felt the wind and sunshine and it felt like we left our stress-filled lives behind us.

"Okay, so kill, marry, fuck, Mai, Azula, Ty Lee. Katara, go."

"Uhh…this is hard, Zuko's had sex with two of them."

"One! I just had sex with Mai, never Ty Lee."

"Oh, okay…well…I guess kill Azula, fuck Ty Lee…wait, no, uh…okay, yeah, marry Mai."

"Way to kill my sister," Zuko said, but he was smiling.

"She's been a raging bitch to us," I said. "But I do appreciate that she's voting for me."

"This isn't interesting enough," Sokka said. "Katara, kill marry fuck, Haru, Jet…who else has she had a thing for?"

"I am not a crush whore!" she replied.

"Do I not get in on this?" I protested.

"The guy you gave your first ever handjob to!" Toph said. "That guy in the Water District."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Oh, God, I'd almost forgotten about him…"

"What was his name?" I asked.

"Kesuk. It wasn't a big deal – "

"You gave a handjob to that asshole?" Sokka barked. "He was such a dick!"

"He treated me right," she said with a flip of her hair and a secretive smile. The thought that Katara was a girl with a past somehow made her ten times hotter.

"Okay, well, we're obviously not counting Aang, 'cause I'd marry him…but kill Jet, fuck Kesuk, marry Haru."

"_Eww_!" All of us said at once.

"With the _moustache_?" Zuko said.

"I don't mind facial hair."

"This is ridiculous. Toph, same question."

"What? Uh…kill Haru, fuck Jet, marry this Kesuk guy."

"Why would you do that?"

"Cause Jet would be _crazy_ in bed."

Suddenly some guitar chords came on, and Katara smiled.

"I love this song!"

Sokka grinned and started singing along –

"Well I'm a-runnin down the road trying to loosen my load, I got seven women on my mind – four that wanna hold me, two that wanna stone me – " he tousled Katara's hair, "and one says she's a friend of mine!"

He reached up and squeezed Toph's shoulders, and she reached back with a smile and kissed him.

"Take it easy, take it easy…don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy…"

Somehow we had all joined in, even Zuko, who was notorious for hating our singalongs.

"Lighten up while you still can – don't even try to understand. Just find a place to take your stand, and take it easy!"

"This shoulda been your anthem, Kat," Toph said.

"I know," she sighed. "I'm so glad the APs are done. Jesus, I felt like I was going crazy."

"How did you think you did?"

"Oh, God, I don't even want to talk about it," she said, waving her hands. "I just don't even care. Fuck it. I'm done. We have to win Prom King."

"Azula said you should run for Prom Queen," Zuko said.

"_Really_?"

Zuko smiled at her in the mirror. "Well, what's a Prom King without his Queen?"

I looked at Katara. She gave an adorable smile, all of her hair streaming behind her. I reached over and held her hand.

"Whaddaya say?" I said.

She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'd love to be Queen with you."

"Aww, so much mushiness!" Sokka said, batting his eyelashes.

"I'm so glad I can't see it," Toph said, taking another big drink. The whiskey bottle was already substantially emptier.

"Toph, let's put on our song!"

"What – "

He switched the song, and 'Can't Fight This Feeling' came on.

"It's our song!"

"Who said it's our song?"

"Uh, I sang it to you with a whole band to profess my undying love, if that doesn't count for 'our song' I don't know what does."

"If we have to have 'a song', which I don't think we do, I think it should be 'Hey Soul Sister', cause that's the first time we played together and I kinda thought about sucking your dick."

"_Toph_!" Katara gasped.

"Fine. Compromise. 'Hello' by Lionel Richie."

"What the _fuck_ makes you think that should be our song?"

"It's about a guy and a blind girl and the blind girl touches his face! That's the first thing you did!"

"Okay, okay, compromise. 'Can't Help Falling in Love'."

"That's every couples song!"

"IT'S A GODDAMN GOOD SONG!"

"What's our couple song?" I whispered to Katara.

"I don't think we have one," she whispered back. "Does that mean we fail as a couple?"

"Okay, how about 'Sympathy'?"

Toph paused, her lips pressed to the bottle. "How do you know I like that song? Did you…did you watch me _sing_ it? That day?"

"Sokka has a stalker problem," Zuko said, for which Sokka promptly slapped him.

"Sorry," he said.

Toph turned around to kind of look at him. "It's not a usual couples song."

"We're not a usual couple."

She smiled. "Okay, it's settled. 'Sympathy' by the Goo Goo Dolls."

I feel like the other three of us tried to find something to mock, but came up short.

"I'm so pissed that I actually like you guys," Zuko muttered.

We stopped on the side of the road to switch drivers, piss, and grab some snacks out of the trunk. Sokka drove now, and we put on Zuko's music with Katara in the front seat. Zuko's taste in music was pretty solid – lots of rock. We jammed out to 'Living on a Prayer' and then finished off with a whole lot of U2. All of us were pretty mellow when we made the next driving switch, and Katara took over. It was my turn for music, and the sky was just beginning to fade to dusk. I put on lots of Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, Jimmy Buffet, Hootie and the Blowfish, Gin Blossoms…Toph and I passed the whiskey back and forth in the backseat while Sokka napped. Katara was a better driver than I gave her credit for, and she drove with one hand on the wheel and her hair whipping back. I leaned back against the seat and prepared to take a nap.

"CARRY ON MY WAYWARD SON!"

I snapped awake. Toph had the iPod and was grinning evilly.

"There'll be peace when you are done – lay your weary head to reeeest – don't you cry no more – "

The guitar slammed, and Toph headbanged in time to the music. All of us woke up.

"Lord, woman, can't you let a guy sleep?" Sokka muttered.

Toph was too busy airguitaring to pay attention.

I reached my hands up. The air was starting to get cold. "Maybe we should put the top up, Zuko."

"No! One does not simply put the top up for Kansas!" Toph said, leaning back as her fingers played an invisible guitar. "Guys, please play this at my funeral."

"Don't talk about funerals," Katara said.

"I'm just saying, eventually."

"Will we still be friends then?" Zuko said, looking confused at the very thought.

"I don't see why not," I said. "Especially if we win."

"Ugh, I don't want to talk about prom!" Sokka muttered. "I gotta get a fucking – oh, shit! Toph!"

"What?"

"It doesn't matter what color corsage I get you, right – _ow_!"

"Of course it fucking matters!" She said, having punched him in the shoulder. "Kat's gonna help pick out a dress cause she's the shit – "

"Thanks, love."

"And I'm gonna show it to you and you're gonna find something to match it! Just cause I'm blind doesn't mean I want to look like a clown!"

"I didn't know you fantasized about your prom," I observed with a smile.

Toph ducked behind her bangs and took a swig of her whiskey. "Never really thought I'd have a date, so there was no point fantasizing. My parents made me go to Homecoming."

"No, I feel that," Katara said. "I don't know, something about after my mom died…I just kinda didn't even want to deal with it. It's not really my dad's scene…so I don't know. I always wanted to go, but I didn't think I ever would."

"What is the big deal with Prom?" Zuko asked.

Katara sighed. "It's kind of our night. Our last night. High school is one big disaster, and at least for a night, we can just dance and look pretty and forget it all."

"But Prom is a big disaster," Sokka said. "It's a clusterfuck. Look at all this shit we've gone through this year. Yue _died_ for Prom."

"I don't think it's like that everywhere," Katara said. "I'm sure in other places winning Prom King is not really a big deal. But we're in the capital. Like it or not, we're influential, guys. We matter in the political scheme of the nation. Our parents are influential. And by inserting ourselves into this, we've made ourselves influential. Winning Prom is the first step to that. It's the first step to how we're going to live the rest of our lives."

There was silence except for the wind.

_Jesus Christ_, I thought.

We drove in silence for the rest of Toph's hour. She played a fair amount of angsty stuff that seemed to fit the mood. I knew we've gotten ourselves in deep shit when we decided to do this Prom thing. But to think that this little election mattered in the scheme of the whole _nation_? I was an orphan with no home district to go to. What the hell was I supposed to do for the whole nation?

We made our stop for the last hour of today's trip. Everyone was hungry and crabby and ready to get to the campsite to eat. Zuko took the wheel again and Toph went back in the front seat. It was Katara's music hour, which we'd all been dreading, knowing that Katara's music choice was pretty…ugh. Lots of Katy Perry. _Lots_ of Britney Spears. Katara seemed to take her 90s-2000s heritage very seriously.

So when we drove off, with the sun finally beneath the horizon and our way only lit by headlights, none of us were looking forward to the first song.

"Some nights I stay up, cashing in my bad luck…some nights I call it a draw…"

Katara sang along, her eyes glued to the road.

"Some nights I wish my lips could build a castle, some nights I wish they'd just fall off…"

Something about the a capella in that dark night, but one by one, the rest of us joined in.

"But I still wake up, I still see your ghost, oh Lord I'm still not sure what I stand for, ohh…what do I stand for, what do I stand for?"

What did I stand for?

"Most nights, I don't know…anymore…"

The drumbeat dropped, and suddenly I was moving along in time, all of us grooving, Toph tapping out the beat on her legs, normally I was sick of this song but something about those lyrics –

"Well, this is it, boys, this is war, what are we waiting for? Why don't we break the rules already? I was never one to believe the hype, save that for the black and white – try twice as hard and I'm half as liked, but here they come again, to jack my style!"

I closed my eyes and just felt it – why didn't we break the rules? What were we waiting for? We didn't need Azula's vote, we didn't need Ozai to lay down and take it, we just needed us, what were we waiting for? The rest of our lives to start?

"But that's alright…I found a martyr in my bed tonight, stops my bones from wondering just who I am, who I am, who I am – "

All of us felt the moon above us and thought of Yue, asking us who we were, would we commit the same sacrifice she had to make?

"Well some nights I wish that this all would end, cause I could use some friends for a change – "

Somehow every single one of us was yelling out loud to the song, our voices getting caught on the wind, hearts beating with the drums.

"And some nights I'm scared you'll forget me again – some nights I always win, I always win – but I still wake up, I still see your _ghost_, and Lord I'm still not sure what I stand for – what do I stand for? What do I stand for? Most nights, I don't know anymore."

The beat faded out and we all listened to Katara talk through the lyrics. "So this is it? I sold my soul for this? Washed my hands of that for this? I missed my mom and dad for this? No – when I see stars that's all they are, when I heard songs, they sound like this one, so come on – "

"So come on – " Sokka joined in.

"So come on – " I sang.

"_So come on!" _Toph surprised us all by coming in with the high notes, her eyes closed.

We all jammed, the lights flying by, screaming out – "Well that is it, guys, that is all – five minutes in and I'm bored already! Ten years of this am I sure if anybody understands? Well this one's not for the folks at home, sorry to leave, Mom, I had to go – " Zuko's eyes were closed painfully – "well who the _fuck_ wants to die alone, all dried up in the desert sun?"

"My heart is breaking for my sister, and the con that she called love," Sokka sang, as Katara sighed, "But when I look into my nephew's eyes, man you wouldn't believe, the most amazing things, that can come from…some terrible niiiiights – "

We all stopped singing, but somehow Toph was still going, hitting all the high autotuned notes with a sweet voice that I rarely heard from her, we all stopped and listened to her as she sang with her eyes closed. She had a finger pressed to her right ear and was just killing it.

The rest of us joined in on the chorus, the cold wind suddenly feeling so refreshing. We couldn't wait for the rest of our lives to start, that was the secret. It was here and now, it was us, and we had to live it in this very moment. There was no waiting until after high school to make change, no resting on our parents' laurels, it was all of us, here, in this car, and we had the power to finally figure out who we really are.

I think everyone in the car was surprised at how sad we were that the song ended.

"Nice choice, Kat," Toph said.

Katara glowed. There were tiny sparkling tears lining the bottoms of her eyes.

Finally, after five hours of driving that Friday night, we arrived at the Cedarwood Campground, only 20 miles or so from the border of the Water District. No one else was there, so we pulled the Mustang in and made ourselves at home. The girls collected firewood, Zuko unloaded food and water, and then Sokka and I made a fire. Everyone cooked hot dogs with cheese inside (I had brought a salad, as per usual), and we popped popcorn and made s'mores. At some point Toph had poured us all whiskey and coke, and none of us really noticed how much was in them, but at some point between the first s'more and when the stars really shone, we were all wasted.

"Guys, guys, _guys_," Sokka said, taking a big swig of his drink, "look, I'm Katara!" He waved his ponytail around and petted it. Everyone burst out laughing, even Katara.

"No, no, let me try," Zuko said. He made his voice high. "Guys, we have to keep up _hope_. It's all about _hope_. I masturbate at night with _hope_."

Katara laughed in big gasps, her head rolling against my shoulder. "Aang, baby, you gonna – _hic_ – defend me or somefing?"

"You forgot to talk about APs," I said in response. "'Guys, guys, my APs are coming up and if I don't get a fucking 5, my eyes are gonna shrivel up and fall out of my face!'"

Katara slapped me half-heartedly. "Wait till next year, loser! You'll be – "

"No, _listen_!"

Toph had the whiskey bottle all to herself, and she held it up in the air like a battle standard, some of it sloshing out. "I fucking _like_ Katara. I fucking _love_ her. And I'm not gonna fucking make fucking fun of her because she fucking takes _care_ of me."

"Aww, baby," Katara said with a smile.

"I'm never gonna say this sober," Toph said, swinging the bottle around, "but I fucking _like_ living with you. I don't even mind it when you get scared in the middle of the night and cuddle up next to me."

Katara blushed. "_Toph_ – "

"That's adorable," I said, kissing her forehead.

"I have nightmares," she muttered.

"To Katara!" Zuko said, raising up his glass. "For keeping us together with her maternal instincts and passionate speeches!"

"And to Zuko!" Sokka said. "For breaking out of his fucked-up family to support the cause!"

"And to Sokka!" Toph added. "For always keeping us going, even after Yue died!"

"To Toph!" I said. "For fueling our hate fire with her complete badassery!"

"TO AANG!" Katara yelled, sitting straight up. "For being Aang!"

"To Aang!" Everyone screamed, taking deep drinks from our glasses. I put it down and just started laughing.

"How did we end up here?" I asked.

"Stop asking questions!" Katara pulled me to my feet. "We're here, together, right now! That's all that fucking matters!"

Zuko ran over and turned on the radio in the car, and suddenly 'Hey Ya' was blaring throughout the empty campsite.

"My baby don't mess around, because she loves me so and this I know for sure – "

The five of us got up and then Sokka was leading us in this sort of tribal war dance around the fire, singing to OutKast, probably the worst tribal dance ever cause we kept throwing booze on the fire and stepping on rocks and Toph had no idea where she was going and we almost thought she was gonna fall in the fire but Sokka saved her and they started making out and then we were screaming "HEY YA" into the still night.

"Why are we so in denial, when we know we're not happy here – "

The music stopped, and we all kind of drunkenly paused with no idea what was happening. Then Toph yelled –

"One two three four!"

"Heeeey yaaaaa!"

The music started up and we kept dancing and I grabbed a handful of leaves and threw them up and Katara threw them at me, and then we threw leaves at each other and some of them caught in the fire, we reached the 'Shake it' part and Toph was just grinding up on Sokka, and Zuko looked kind of awkward so we grabbed him and pulled him in to join us in whatever ridiculous fucking thing we were doing.

"Heeeeyyyy yaaaaa!"

"Guitars!" Sokka screamed, running to the car. We whooped as he paused the music and gave Zuko and Toph the guitars while he took the uke.

"Guys, guys, I got an idea!" Zuko said, brandishing his guitar like a sword. "I know what we're gonna play!"

"What?" We asked, but he was already running to the car and almost tripping into it, and then suddenly this slow thing came on over the speakers.

"I don't know where I'm going, but I sure know where I've been…"

"Dude, what is this shit?" I asked.

"Just wait!"

"I've made up my mind…I ain't wasting no more time…Here I go again…"

"What are the chords?" Sokka asked.

"Doesn't matter!" Zuko said. He'd climbed up on the front seat with his guitar, and he looked really fucking ridiculous until the drums kicked in, and then he was a fucking _rockstar_!

"Here I go again! Going down the only road I've ever known! Like a drifter I was born to walk alone!"

I don't know what was happening, if this was fulfilling some sort of childhood dream of his, but he was playing that guitar like it was his lifeline, and Toph and Sokka were laughing but they joined in too, playing bogus chords, all of us headbanging to…who the fuck sings this song anyway?

"Cause I here I go again on my own! Going down the only road I've ever known!"

I assume Zuko was shredding, but we couldn't tell, but Katara was acting like a good rock groupie and jumping and screaming up front by the car. It was really a good thing his hair was so long, cause he was really getting into this 80's hair metal thing. When he was finished we all clapped and cheered and fell down by the fire, suddenly drunk-exhausted by our spurt of teenage rebellion.

"Let's set something on fire," Zuko said.

"_No_," Katara said.

"Ugh, okay, Mom."

"We already have a campfire!"

"I agree!" Sokka said. "Let's burn something!"

"I said no."

"Katara, don't be so lame!" Toph said. "I wanna burn something!"

"Okay, yeah, well, you try having a mom die and you've got a crazy manly dad and brother and you have to take care of them your whole life!" Katara said, her voice gasping for air.

Toph paused, her broken eyes reaching out from her bangs. "Sorry, Kat. I forgot."

"Azula did that too," Zuko said, lying back and looking at the star. "She took the heat for me when my dad got crazy."

"Are you ever going to live there again?" I asked.

"Now that Azula's moving out, probably not. She was the only real reason I ever stayed. Kinda subconsciously, I guess. I didn't know how to live without her."

"I couldn't live without you," Sokka said, drunkenly falling in Katara's lap. She smiled and stroked his hair.

"You're never gonna have to."

The night sky was spinning wildly above me, all of the liquor sloshing around in my veins, Katara's hand in mine – "I miss my parents."

Everyone turned to me.

Goddamn it, Aang, no crying! "It's been three years…and I'm glad I have Grandpa, but…my mom used to give the best hugs…"

It happened in a heartbeat. Suddenly all four of them were on top of me, pushing me to the ground in a gigantic dogpile.

"We love our Twinkle Toes!" Toph yelled.

"We'll be here!" Sokka said. "Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down – "

Katara wiggled her face over through the dogpile and kissed me, right on the ear.

"I love you, babe," she whispered, just for me.

I stretched my arms out and tried to hug them all at once.

"Fucking get _off_ me, Zuko, you're crushing my balls – "

"No, I'm in the middle of actually hugging someone – _ooophf_ – "

Toph had settled the issue by roughly pushing Zuko off of the pile. "Come on, Socks, let's go get some of those vegetarian snacks we got for Aang, that rabbit shit."

Sokka staggered to his feet and grabbed her hand as they weaved over to the car, parked just beyond the trees.

"Zuko, who are you taking to Prom?" Katara asked.

"No, goddamn it, Kat, I'm not thinking about that right now!" He said, grasping for the whiskey. "We're not thinking about Prom!"

"I'm sorry, it's just in my mind," she said, shaking her head. She leaned into me and I kissed the top of her head. "So what exactly do you want to do with your life?"

"_Katara_…"

"How about this," I interrupted. "What did you want to be when you were little?"

He drank more of the whiskey and thought. His golden eyes were already hazy and swimming. "I wanted to be whatever my mom did. To this day, I don't really know what it was. I think she helped out charitable organizations in the Fire District. Hosted banquets and stuff. She made everyone feel happy. I wanted to do that."

Katara and I smiled. The firelight flickered over his face.

"Or a herpetologist," he said.

"What?" I said.

"A _reptile_ doctor?" Katara said.

"I love turtles," he said stubbornly. "We had them in a pond at home. Turtles and ducks. I want to work with turtles."

Katara started laughing, her hair falling heavy in my lap. "Zuko, that's the cutest thing I've ever heard!"

"Why didn't you get a turtle?" I asked.

He was actually smiling. "I don't know, my dad said they smelled, and Azula actually wanted one too, she wanted snapping turtles so ours would fight, she was all excited – "

"Of _course_ she was."

"And I remember like five-year-old me and six-year-old Zula just pitching _tantrums_ on the living room floor cause we wanted turtles, and my dad just ran out and my mom just couldn't stop laughing, and the servants were saying how we were demon children and it was all over a few fucking turtles."

I giggled as the firelight played on the leaves.

"When I get to college, I'm gonna get a turtle," Zuko said with a smile. "I'm gonna get a fucking turtle. I'm gonna take a picture of it and send it to my dad in the mail. Maybe I'll get Azula one too. We'll have matching turtles and we can call them Squirtle and Myrtle or some shit and we can finally get revenge."

"I like Squirtle and Myrtle," Katara giggled.

Zuko threw some leaves into the fire, watching as the flames reared up. "Yeah. That's what's gonna happen."

"I want a dog," Katara said absentmindedly. "Like an Appa of my own. Whenever I have to move out."

"I don't want you to move out," I said.

"It has to happen, baby."

"Not if we get married."

Everyone froze.

Katara blinked at me. "Aang…?"

Oh, _Jesus_.

"Uh…uh…"

"Let's go see what Toph and Sokka are doing," Zuko said quickly.

We hauled ourselves up to our feet and headed over to the car. We could hear some music faintly blaring.

"How long does it take to get some snacks?" Katara muttered.

I realized, a little too late, that they probably had no intention of ever getting snacks.

They were playing 'Crazy Bitch'.

We stopped a ways away, listening to the lyrics blaring… "Hey, you're a crazy bitch, but you fuck so hard, I'm on top of it!"

"Uh…" Katara said.

"They could just be listening to it," I said.

"TOPH, YOU'RE A CRAZY BITCH!"

"Deeper…deeper…OH! THERE, THERE, _THERE_!"

"You're crazy but I like the way you fuck me!"

"Oh, Soooooo_ooooo_kka!"

"In my car?" Zuko whispered.

Toph's bright white feet were propped up on the backseat window.

"I don't know why you guys are surprised," I said.

"OW, TOPH, WHAT THE FUCK?"

"Shut up and take it!"

"You're _scratching_ me!"

"I'm crazy, remember? Ooo-_ooooo_h! Oh God, oh God, oh God, OH GOD!"

"Toph, oh fuck, fucking fucking _fuuuuuuck_ – "

"Yeah, we should leave," I said.

The car began physically shaking.

"I'm gonna hurl," Katara said.

"SOKKA HATORI, OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Okay, we're done," I said, grabbing my Katara's hand and dragging her back to the campfire. All of us felt decidedly more sober when we got back to the campfire.

But then Zuko started laughing. "Well, I guess it could be worse. They're fucking to good music."

"And he got so upset at me when he just thought we were making out!" Katara said, her chin in her hand. "Hypocritical jackass."

"Well, we could always give them a taste of their own medicine in the morning," I said.

"Like what?"

I laid out my devious plan. The three of us grinned, agreed, and then fell asleep in our sleeping bags. I set my alarm for eight in the morning.

* * *

The morning was bright and crisp when we woke up from our sleeping bags. Katara, Zuko and I grabbed our pans, some sticks, and the guitars, and snuck over to the car. Toph and Sokka were sleeping in the backseat, spooning together, Toph completely without pants and Sokka's morning wood showing through his boxers.

"One…two…three…" I whispered.

"I JUST HAD SEX!" We screamed. They jumped up. "AND IT FELT SO GOOD! A WOMAN LET ME PUT MY PENIS INSIDE HER!" Zuko and I played the guitars as loud as we could with Katara smacking the pan with all the deliria she usually reserved for sporting events.

"I JUST HAD SEEEEEX! AND I'LL NEVER GO BACK – TO THE NOT HAVING SEX WAYS OF THE PAST!"

"Fuck off," Toph muttered, pushing her hair off her face. Sokka stuck his face in the leather seat and groaned.

Zuko grabbed the pan from Katara and smacked him on the ass, making him yelp. "Way to get laid in my car, jackass! You're cleaning up the jizz!"

"Please, there wasn't any jizz," Toph said, as she pulled herself to a sitting position. "This bitch swallows."

"OH GOD EW EW EW!" Katara screamed, turning around.

"You brush your teeth this _instant_, young lady!" I barked.

Toph gave that little smirk we first saw in the wrestling ring. Sokka was still barely awake.

"She fuck the shit out of you?" Zuko said.

Sokka just grunted again. Toph laughed and jumped out of the Corvette, pulling her sweatpants from the front seat. "Just wait till you have sex, Aang. It'll all make sense."

I rolled my eyes. "Katara's a virgin too, for the record."

"Not as virginal as you," she said, clapping me on the back. I stood, fuming, for a few seconds, before Sokka said,

"She's right, bro."

I took the pan, smacked him again, and then went off with Katara to make breakfast.

An hour later, after breakfast of Pop Tarts and lots of pissing in the woods, we were back on the road. Nobody wanted to sit in the backseat where Toph and Sokka had fucked, so after a very intense game of rock-paper-scissors, Toph, Sokka and Katara were relegated to the backseat, and I scored shotgun with Zuko driving. We cruised from morning till dusk, stopping at various rest stops and eating bad chicken nuggets and playing arcade games (the vegetarian options were getting desperate). After eight hours of driving, just as the sun was setting, we finally rolled onto the campus of College de Agua, with huge, polished iron gates. The Water District was gorgeous – it was cold, and the landscape was fairly barren, but it made the trees and mountains and waterfalls all the more beautiful – but this campus was crazy. So many cascading willows, with their leaves somehow dyed blue. Beautiful white marble buildings rising up like they were carved out of snow. We drove past the buildings in our bright red Mustang and felt really out of place.

"Holy shit," Sokka whispered.

"You got _accepted_ here?" Zuko said.

"I don't know how," Sokka admitted.

We checked into the hotel, right next to the campus, and got judged by the attendant when she saw that five kids had all checked into one room. But we'd done our research – there were two queen beds and a pull-out couch, so Zuko got to be fifth wheel as always while the couples took the beds. Over a nightly beer we made Toph and Sokka swear to not fuck while they were in the same room as us. But later that night, while I was spooning Katara and trying to hide my boner, halfway through a dream I thought I heard the sounds of a creaking mattress. I was about to open my eyes and see what was going on, but I wisely decided that ignorance was bliss.

* * *

"WELCOME to College de Agua!"

Jesus _Christ_, this guy had a huge smile.

"Let me be the first to tell you what an honor it is to be accepted to this fine institution! Over five hundred years educating the best minds in the Water District!"

His eyes roved over the five of us, standing out like sore thumbs in a gaggle of high school seniors and their parents. Toph had her arms crossed and I could tell she was already unhappy.

"We're going to go on a beautiful walking tour of the campus while I tell you some facts – and you're lucky, the blue willows are blooming at this time of year – but first, let's go around and introduce ourselves!"

By the way his eyes lingered on us, I had the weird feeling he was only doing the introduction thing to figure out who the hell we were. By the time the circle got around to us, everyone's eyes were glued to us.

Sokka gulped and said, "Hey, my name's Sokka Hatori – "

"Hatori?" The tour guide said. "As in Hakoda Hatori, chief of the Southern District?"

Sokka nodded. "This is my sister, Katara, and some of our friends."

I was expecting this proclamation to be met with various levels of respect. But instead, everyone looked at Sokka like he was a strange foreign fruit. Katara's hands were clenched and her face flushed. I realized, very late, that we were in the Northern District right now.

"Wow," the tour guide said, still looking us up and down. "What an honor. As I'm sure you're aware, the chief of the Northern District, Arnook, was himself a graduate of College de Agua – "

"So was my dad," Sokka said. The tension suddenly rose.

"I didn't know that," the tour guide said, his mouth narrowing slightly. His tone put me on edge. "In fact, I don't know if you ever had the privilege of meeting Princess Yue, our late esteemed Princess – "

"I met Princess Yue," Sokka said, his jaws clenched. Now all five of us were on edge. "I was her date to Homecoming the night she was murdered."

The whole circle froze.

"Did they not tell you how she was killed?"

The tour guide said, "Well, it was a tragic accident – "

"Wasn't," Sokka said gruffly. "She was murdered. I was there. And I'm trying to do something about it."

In their eyes, Sokka was positively lethal, with his darker skin and blue eyes on fire.

"And if you're going to refer to Yue as Princess, then you better award my sister the same title," he said, pointing to Katara.

"Sokka, _don't_ – "

"We don't necessarily recognize Southern titles – "

"My sister is every bit a Princess as Yue was," Sokka demanded, "and you better treat her like that, or my dad is gonna call your boss and we'll see who's still got a job tomorrow."

For the first time, Toph smiled.

The tour guide gulped, looking back and forth between us.

"Let's get on with the tour, shall we?" Sokka said.

After a tense moment, the tour guide said, "Right this way…Princess Katara…"

The tour was tense, but the school grounds were gorgeous. All of the buildings looked pristine, like they had only been around for one year instead of five hundred. Ponds with fish were the only animal life we saw, and everywhere there were those strange blue willows. Since Sokka was currently still fuming and Katara was trying to calm him down, Toph kept one hand looked around my arm as she tapped with her cane.

"What's it look like?" she whispered, both of us ignoring the tour guide.

"It's pretty, but it's cold. Like the only colors are blue and white."

Toph frowned. "Never two of my favorite colors."

"I wish they didn't treat Sokka like that – "

"They won't," she said softly. "They say one word against him or any of us, General Hakoda is the _least_ of their worries."

"These steps are almost as old as the university…some say they were carved by the spirits…oh, uh…" The tour guide paused. "They're very steep…does, uh…does someone want to carry the blind girl?"

"Oh, _hell_ no," Toph muttered, rolling up her sleeves and beginning to push through the crowd, but I put a hand on her shoulder when I saw a lot of men in suits come running up.

"Sokka Hatori?" One of the men said breathlessly.

Sokka blinked. "Yeah?"

"We didn't know you were coming, sir! The president would love to receive you in his office!"

The whole tour group swiveled to face Sokka. "Oh, uh…"

"And Princess Katara, of course!"

Katara blushed. "Sure, I guess? Come on, guys…"

She took over holding Toph's hand, and the man narrowed his eyes. "Who are your guests, Prince Sokka?"

God, this Prince and Princess stuff was getting to me. "Oh, uh, this is Toph – "

"Toph _Beifong_?"

The tour guide's eyes bugged. Now Toph really smiled, looking up and brushing her bangs out so they could see her white eyes.

"Sup," she said.

"And this is Zuko, Zuko Agni…"

That was about it for the men. They straightened up like someone had pulled an invisible string on their backs.

"Mr. Agni, we didn't know, what brings you – "

"I have no business here relating to my father," he said sharply. "I live with Sokka, we all do. We're just here for the tour."

The men turned to me with the most scared eyes I'd ever seen. "And you are…?"

Leave it to our group to turn a simple college tour into a political game. I smiled and said, "I'm Aang, I'm normal."

"He's one of the last survivors of the Air District," Katara snapped.

Ugh, _Katara_.

The look on the tour guide's face was priceless, though.

"What a, uh…what a distinguished…you better come with us," one of the men said, turning to walk towards the tallest of the tall white buildings. We followed, leaving the stunned tour group, as Zuko jammed his elbow into Sokka's side.

"Nice going, _Prince_."

* * *

An hour later and we were released into the bright sunshine, dazed and confused.

"What just happened?" Katara muttered.

"I think he tried to hypnotize us into coming here," Sokka said.

"My stomach hurts," Toph whined.

"That tea had to be spiked," Zuko said.

"Did he _threaten_ us?" I said.

The five of us looked at each other.

"Booze?" I said.

"Booze," we all agreed.

Back in the comfort of our hotel room, we popped the whiskey and tried to figure out the weirdness that was College de Agua. The president was a portly man with a big white moustache who seemed to make it his life's mission to get Sokka to come to his school. The rest of us, however…

"Did you catch all the snide blind jokes?" Toph muttered, drinking her whiskey straight. "Most of them weren't even _good_."

"I think he wanted to throw me out of the office," Zuko added.

"It's the scar," Katara teased. "Makes you look like that guy from 'Game of Thrones'."

"I think he liked me," I said brightly. "He didn't make any comments about me."

"Yeah, but I think that's cause he didn't know you _existed_," Sokka said. "Did you see the way his eyes bugged out when you said who you were?"

"Was it necessary to keep the guys with ear thingies outside the door the whole time?" Katara said.

"What's the deal?" I said. "I thought you guys were royalty?"

"Psh," Katara said. "Hardly. Not even in our own district. Southern District operates differently. Way less pomp and circumstance. You shouldn't have made them call me Princess, Sokka," she said, smacking him.

"It's true! You are a Princess, just as much as Yue was! They're just a bunch of assholes!"

"I didn't think we'd have to make this the Adventures of the Fab Five in Discrimination," Zuko muttered.

We all took a minute to think over his words. Felt kind of like we were back at Four Nations – the five of us against everyone else.

"Well, that's just the asshole administration," Sokka said. "Shall we find out what the students think?"

"How do you propose to do that?" Katara drawled.

Sokka smiled and hefted up the bottle of whiskey. "_Booze_."

I don't know how it happened. Sokka, Zuko and Toph all converged quietly to talk. Later that night, they emerged from the bedroom. Toph was wearing a push-up bra and had swapped her usual t-shirt for one with a much lower neckline. She was tucking her fake ID into her cleavage.

"Katara, we're gonna need you to put on something slutty," Sokka said, adjusting his shirt. "Lay low here. We might need you for backup."

"Why not send me in first?" She said, looking offended.

"One – Toph's tits are bigger. Two – she's mega jailbait."

"Cha-ching," she said casually.

"We'll call you in a bit. If you don't hear from us in an hour, call the cops. Oh, and we're using your big purse," Zuko said. He'd already taken the big purse and was stuffing it with booze. He gave it to Toph, who slung it over her shoulder.

"You didn't see us," he said dramatically, as the three of them slipped out the door. Katara and I stared at each other for a while, utterly baffled. Then we took advantage of the fact that they had _told_ us to put on lingerie…

_Brrrrriiiiing._

From underneath Katara, I reached for the phone. "_What_?"

"Gimme Katara."

I held the phone to her. She groaned, took her lips off my neck, and said, "Sup?"

After a few moments, she sighed. "Really?...Okay, be down in a minute."

She swung her legs off me and headed to the closet. "They're almost in. They needed backup."

"Where are we _going_?"

"In Sokka we trust," she muttered, pulling on a low-cut blue shirt over her bra. With a fluff of her hair and a dab of mascara, she grabbed her phone and said, "I'll call you soon."

I felt kind of like a crime boss, lying on that bed.

She was as good as her word. Not two minutes later, I got another call. "Aang, put on that good black button-down and meet us at 3735 South Koi Pond Lane. It's just a block over."

I got up and started looking through my suitcase for the shirt. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, uh, everything's great, I think…just get over here, okay?"

"Okay, hun." I hung up and pulled out my shirt. Where had Sokka gotten us into?

3735 South Koi Pond Lane turned out to be a dingy townhouse. I knocked at the door and almost ran away when a large, terrifying guy answered the door. But then Katara stuck her head out.

"He's with me," she said quickly.

The guy nodded and moved aside, and Katara grabbed my hand and pulled me into a dark, dimly-lit house party. Bongs were set up all over the place, slow thudding music came through the speakers, and Toph, Sokka and Zuko were sitting on a couch in the corner with a tall, handsome College student.

"Aang! You made it!" Sokka said. Toph reached out blindly for me, and I gave her my hand and she pulled me down on the couch. I was a little surprised to find her looking a little scared. I put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed.

"This is Aang, he's Air District,"

"No shit," the guy muttered. "I'm Kuruk. Pleasure to meet you."

"Same to you," I said, shaking his hand.

"You got an all-star crew here, Hatori," he said.

Sokka nodded and sipped on his beer. "It's kind of weird how it happened."

"You all live together?"

"We all live with Aang. We lost our homes because of power politics."

Kuruk pulled out a cigarette and lit up. Toph heard the rasp and held out her hand.

"Can I have one?"

Katara smacked her down. "Toph, _no_ – "

"Just one!" Toph snapped.

"Just one," Sokka replied.

Toph rolled her eyes as Kuruk lit another one and handed it to her. His deep blue eyes scanned the crowd. He seemed casual and confident, like he was in charge of this crowd. A few girls wandered in and out, wiggling their fingers at him. He nodded.

"Well," he said, blowing out smoke. "It is really fly to have the Hatoris here. My dad's from the Southern District, he probably knows your dad. If you'd just told me you were here you wouldn't have had to bribe all the sharks to get in to this party."

"We wanted to know what the school was really like," Sokka said.

Kuruk paused and saw me. "Have a drink, Aang."

He poured me a tall beer and I leaned back on the couch. The whole feel of the party was like the calm before the storm.

"You guys really lost your homes to power politics?"

Zuko nodded. "Sokka and Katara's apartment got burnt, Toph was kicked out of hers, and I left mine."

"Fire District politics?"

"Yeah, and I was kinda hoping to get away from that," Sokka said.

Kuruk frowned. "How many Southern Water kids you think we got here?"

"I don't know, maybe twenty?"

"_None_," he said. We all started. "You're the first I've ever heard of. Now I don't have a problem with you, and I doubt any of the other students do, but the administration has their panties in a bunch about the North district."

"That's stupid," Katara murmured. "Why's they let us in then?"

"Cause your dad's Hakoda. The administration's not that dumb. With the Fire District going apeshit – no offense, Agni – we gotta consolidate power. They're probably hoping to solidify relationships."

"Nothing wrong with that," Toph said.

"Yeah, but I'm just worried about four years here being everybody's pawn," Kuruk said. "You four sound like you been through enough shit without having to come to a university and have more people pulling your strings."

We all shared a glance. I drank my beer and observed the dark-skinned people moving like shadows in the strobelights. Was this what college was like? More power politics and more booze?

"Why'd you come here?" Katara said.

Kuruk shrugged and took a drag. "My dad wanted me to. Thought it was a good school. I mean, my physical therapy degree is as good as any, but…I don't know, man. The buildings sure are nice, but there's a whole lot of dirt underneath them."

Toph exhaled and snuggled into Sokka's elbow. He had his brows furrowed.

Kuruk finally smiled. "Well, you don't have to decide yet. Shall we take shots?"

Somehow, we all managed to smile.

"What harm can a good, old-fashioned party do?" Sokka said.

* * *

"_Ohhhhhh_ Jesus Chriiiiiiiist…"

"Come on, babe, better out than in…"

"You know, Sokka, you said you were less whiny than Katara when you got sick."

"I wouldn't speak too soon, she's at the kitchen sink right now."

"Uh, goddamn it – "

I got up from the ground where Toph and Zuko were helping Sokka puke and went to find Katara. All I saw was a sheet of brown hair and some crooked basketball shorts hanging off her hips.

"Baby?"

She moaned.

"I _told_ you not to do the Jaegerbomb."

She clapped a hand to her mouth, and I grabbed her hair as she puked in the sink. We'd really been doing this far too much.

"Better?" I said, as she resurfaced.

She moaned and slid down the sink, coming to rest on the cold tile floor. Toph wandered in, scratching her head.

"How's your better half?"

"Not even close to done," she said. "I don't know what he had last night, he must've gotten food in between the beers…kinda looks like chili – "

"Eww, _Toph_ – "

"She's right." Zuko strolled in. The three of us sat down on the ground by Katara. "It's pretty nasty."

"I don't like it here," I said flat-out.

"Me neither," Toph said. "Sokka doesn't need anyone else treating him like a chesspiece."

Zuko dug his hands in his hair. "Could we even visit him here? You saw the way they looked at us."

"If I wore a wig, maybe. Oh, hello, little one!" Katara was crawling towards me like a baby kitten who didn't know how to walk yet. She plopped her head in my lap and moaned while I petted her hair.

"That's adorable," Zuko admitted.

Toph reached over and rubbed Katara's back. "Doing okay, sweetie?"

She nuzzled her face in my shirt.

"I don't think she liked it here, either," I said. "She had this frown on her face all night. I think that's why she drank so much."

Zuko shook his head. "Well, all that matters is that Sokka liked it."

"I'm just really sick of going places and getting judged on who our parents are," I said, continuing to stroke Katara's hair. "Like, they should have admitted Sokka because he's smart and dedicated and capable, not just because his dad's Hakoda. They shouldn't judge us based on the fact that your dad's an asshole and Toph's dad's a rich asshole."

"They're judging you for you," Toph said. "You escaped the massacre."

I swallowed against the burning lump in my throat. "Cause my parents saved me. And Grandpa. I was only eleven, I didn't do shit."

"Well, you're doing shit now!"

Sokka dragged himself into the room. I had to stifle a laugh. He looked awful. But he was smiling.

"Someone wanna carry me to the car so we can go home?"

Katara gave a fierce nod in my stomach. Toph smiled and rubbed his hair.

"Thought you'd never ask."

And then she hefted him into her arms herself.

The president somehow found out we were leaving and made a big show of meeting us as we drove the Mustang around. Sokka woke up from his blackout in the backseat to shake hands. I couldn't tell if they were terrified or excited that we were leaving. The president definitely seemed wary of all of us, from Zuko's scar to Toph's white eyes to my bald head. Even the fact that Katara and Sokka's skin was darker than theirs stood out. I took a big deep breath when we hit the highway.

"We're going home," I said.

"Home!" Sokka murmured.

"About goddamn time," Toph said, reaching for the whiskey.

Katara laid her head on my shoulder. "We can tell Grandpa all about it, and snuggle with Appa and Momo…"

Zuko put on some chill Elvis Costello. The day was warm and bright, Sokka snoozing on the backdoor.

I had the thought that for the first time since the fire, I had a home I was genuinely excited to go home to.

With Sokka passed out for most of the day, we broke the law and let me do some driving. I had my permit, but it had hardly been necessary with three roommates who could drive. I underestimated just how good the highway felt – the streets rolling under the smooth Mustang tires, the wind playing in my ears, the beautiful, barren landscape of the Water District. Everything about my friends was starting to make sense – Katara's ability to find beauty in everything, the way that Sokka was resilient to any challenge. This landscape forced you to survive, made you search for warmth in cold ice. The thought popped up to my head that I'd love to see the Earth and Fire Districts, to see where Toph and Zuko came from. Was the Earth District rocky and lush, like Toph, filled with challenges? Was the Fire District always simmering, always on edge, hardly ever capable of rest, like Zuko?

"Can we go to the Earth and Fire Districts?" I said.

Sokka and Toph were asleep, but Zuko and Katara looked up.

"I wanna see where you other guys are from."

"Long as we go to the Air District," Zuko said.

"There's not much there anymore…"

"I don't know," Katara said. "There's you."

I smiled.

Sokka woke up for the last leg of the trip, back into the same campsite. This time there was no drunken campfire rain dances or Whitesnake karaoke. We cooked veggie and regular burgers, with just buns and ketchup, and killed the last of the s'mores while we drank beer and stared at the stars.

"And so ends the wild adventure of the Fab Five," Katara said.

"Love, Danger, Whiskey, Discrimination, Mustangs and Puke in the Land of Agua," Toph said.

"Sounds like the title of a really shitty movie with Zach Galifianakis," Zuko said.

"Shut up," I said. "I had an awesome time."

"That's cause you didn't partake in the puke part," Sokka said.

I sipped my beer and peered through the trees to the stars. "What'd you think?"

Sokka paused a moment, rustling the leaves as he adjusted. "I don't know. Felt kinda like high school. Plus it's so far from you guys."

"Did Dad say anything?"

"He said I was free to make my own choices." He frowned. "I don't know if I'll get into Capitol College. Or if I do, if it'll be any better, you know?"

The future hung heavy on all of our shoulders as the fire crackled. I wanted to tell him not to leave, but I knew he had to. Knew we had to finally make good on our desires to make names for ourselves, beyond our parents.

"Well, can't be thinking about that now," Katara said. "Our biggest battle is coming up."

We looked up and saw her eyes glittering in the firelight.

"Prom," she whispered.

"Prom," Zuko said, throwing his head back.

"Prom!" Sokka said.

"_Prom_," Toph moaned.

I raised my beer can. "Prom, bitches."

"PROM!" We all chorused.

_Here we come_.

* * *

**Oh my Looooooord. That chapter took me forever and a half to write. I hope it came out okay - I kinda poured my heart into it for some reason. I would leave a longer note, but I'm fucking exhausted from finally finishing this chapter and I'm going to go to the bar and drink my face off. Promise the next one will come out sooner! Only two more chapters before Prom! Thanks for sticking with me, we're on the home stretch now! Love you all - PVB**

**Giant epic soundtrack to this chapter: Life is a Highway by Rascall Flats, Take it Easy by the Eagles, Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas, Some Nights by Fun, Hey Ya by OutKast, Here I Go Again by Whitesnake, Crazy Bitch by Buckcherry, and I Just Had Sex (reprise). Have a great weekend everyone!**


	30. Shopping, Smoking and Snuggling

**Chapter Thirty – Shopping, Smoking and Snuggling**

* * *

My time was up. Everyone knew it. I had been denying it. But Katara kept giving me sneaky glances. Zuko and Sokka looked at me and shook their heads. Grandfather was prone to random sighs. I did a great job of avoiding it.

Thank God Toph didn't do subtlety.

"Dude."

She threw the door open, shut it, and then walked over to fall on my bed. The fact that her hair was in a thick French braid told me she'd just been with Katara.

"You gotta ask her to Prom."

"Ugh, she knows – "

"She knows. But you gotta do it. Like, tomorrow."

"Prom's in two weeks, why now?"

"We can't go dress shopping until you ask her."

"That's stu – "

"Twinkletoes. Fuckin' _do it_. For my sake. The longer we drag this out the more ideas she gets for putting me in princess shit. If we get it over with ASAP, I at least have some say in my dress before she goes all Katara on that shit."

The fact that Katara was her own adjective was a bad sign at this point. "I don't know how – "

She punched me straight in the arm, making me yelp. "It's not fucking hard! I still have to watch a goddamn Hilary Duff movie with her! _That's_ hard! I'll give you a fucking hint – chocolate, Ingrid Michaelson, blue tulips, and fluffy animals! She has a vagina, we're not that hard to figure out!"

"Yeah, but – _ow_!"

"Keep acting like a bitch, get slapped like a bitch." She rolled off the bed. "Do it now, or I will duct tape your balls to your leg, and then rip it off and take all your pubes with it."

I cringed. "Okay, I'll get on it."

"Good Twinkletoes. You can commiserate with Zuko, he still hasn't decided."

She ambled out, and I sighed and slumped onto my desk. Zuko still hadn't asked anybody. I was in the clear, at least for a bit.

* * *

But the next day at lunch blew all that out of the water. We usually walked by the parking lot on our way to our lunch spot. Of course, it was Katara who spotted it first.

"Oh, _look_!"

Suki's beat up green Ford was somehow completely decked out, with car paint and balloons decorating the entire vehicle. Written in large red letters on the hood was –

SUKI WILL YOU GO TO PROM WITH ME?

A very uncharacteristic blush crossed Suki's face, and she placed a hand to her mouth. "Oh, _wow_…who is this from?"

"You really don't know?"

She turned to see Zuko smiling. She grinned and bit her lip.

"Really, Mr. High-and-Mighty Fire Lord? You really want to take your chances with a hood rat like me?"

"Sure do," Zuko said, grinning wildly. I snuck a glance at Mai to see her purse her lips, her whole face expressionless.

Suki took another moment to look at the balloons and writing. "Well, it's a pretty cliché way to ask someone – "

"I bought you a new butterfly knife, does that help?"

Suki's eyes lit up. "_Fuck_ yeah! You got yourself a deal!"

She walked over and kissed him on the lips. As we all whooped and cheered, Katara took a quick look at me, and my stomach dropped.

Okay, time to man up.

* * *

As much as Sokka didn't want me so much as mentally undressing his sister (too late – five times today already), he did want me to take her to Prom, and do it right. Obviously Toph was involved, since her fashion pride was on the line and she theorized she could wear her Converse if I asked Katara soon, and Zuko joined in partly because he wanted to be involved and partly because we forced him too. Katara was well aware that we were planning something, but she did the graceful thing and took Appa on long walks while we put our heads together. But the collective genius of the four of us could only come up with baked goods.

Solid idea in theory, right? Bitches love cake. Nobody's denying that. Between the four of us _somebody_ should be able to bake a cake. Toph even had a vagina.

Incorrect. I don't know how we lived with Toph for this long without realizing she can't bake for shit (though she has a fantastic knack for finding edible things outside). Before we were about to start ragging on her for this, she informed us in a deadpan voice that perhaps we should think twice about expecting the blind girl to do anything involving a 350-degree oven.

"Oh, fuck, I forgot you were blind," I said. "_Ow_!"

"You deserved that one," Sokka said with a nod.

Obviously Zuko had never cooked his own food in his life, and me and Sokka's cooking experience was limited to stir-fry and meat, respectively. We all thought Grandpa could help, but he just shook his head.

"Sorry, kids. My wife was a professional chef. I didn't learn to cook anything beyond the essentials. She always made my son's birthday cakes."

We were realizing, a little too late, that the only person in the house capable of baking a cake for Katara was, in fact, Katara.

Still, a cake shouldn't be too hard, right? There's no way four intelligent people can mess up a cake, right?

So wrong. _So_ wrong.

Sokka, being a genius, suggested that we buy three things of cake mix and supplies, assuming we'd mess up. And Katara would be out of the house for several hours that Saturday working at the Jasmine Dragon. Everything was set up for success.

But from the start, it was like the gods were sitting up in heaven and personally fucking everything up. Sokka is miserable at measuring, and the first cake came out watery and disgusting due to his disturbingly liberal amounts of oil and water. The second cake, we made the fundamental mistake of letting Toph participate. We all love Toph, and there are many things she is better at than anyone else. Stirring cake mix is not one of them. We came in to find herself and the entire counter covered in cake mix, as she tearfully and angrily attempted to find the goddamn spoon. We convinced her to let us finish it, she could go shower up, but apparently we'd pressed the disabled button, cause she went into a spectacular rant and accused us of not letting her do anything just cause she was blind, was it her fucking fault she had a degenerative eye condition, Sokka has a small penis and she didn't see any of us judging him for it? Sokka puffed up like a fish and irrationally pushed her outside, where we had to continue the third cake with her screaming and pounding on the windows, knowing we were going to get our asses kicked when we let her back into the house but simply not willing to deal with that right now.

So with Sokka and Toph firmly on the bench, it was Zuko's turn up to bat as my sous chef.

"What the _fuck_?" Katara screamed, walking home to see the three of us hovering around a cake pan engulfed in foot-high _flames_.

"Aang, where the fuck is the fire extinguisher?" Zuko yelled, trying to throw water on it.

"This is your goddamn fault! What the hell did you put in that cake mix?" I said, rummaging through the closet.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't the one who decided to light the goddamned gas stove at the same time as he set the oven to _four hundred and fifty fucking degrees_! How much do you think it takes to bake a cake?"

"Less talking, more fire-extinguishing!" Sokka yelled, running over with me. We pulled out the extinguisher and after a few fumbled seconds, I managed the pull the trigger and squirt down the flames.

For a moment, everything was calm. Then –

CRASH.

We all swung around to see that Toph had busted down the door, and she stood there in all her five-foot, dripping-cake-mix fury, holding a garden trough like it was a shiv.

"I'M GONNA CUT YOU FUCKERS SO HARD, YOUR GRANDCHILDREN WILL HAVE SCARS!" She roared.

"Jesus Christ!" Sokka said, turning tail and sprinting through the house. I still don't understand how Toph's blindness prevents her from stirring a pot of cake mix, but when she's chasing Sokka, it's like she's a goddamned hound dog. She rugby-tackled him within a minute and was pounding the shit out of his body.

Zuko started laughing, but she whipped her head around, and the cake mix dripping from her nose was suddenly so terrifying. "You think this is fucking _funny_? You think getting your ass handed to you is fucking _funny_?"

"No sir, I mean ma'am, _ma'am_ – !"

Too late. He was next. While Sokka moaned in the corner, she had moved on to pressing Zuko's face into the ground with her knee while bellowing,

"HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW, COCKSUCKER? TRY AND LOCK ME OUTSIDE AGAIN, I'LL RIP YOUR DICK OFF!"

Katara looked up at me with terror on her face.

"Uh, yeah, roommate bonding?" I said.

I didn't have time to elaborate, because apparently it was my turn. Toph walked towards me with the trough, wiping cake mix out of her eyes. "Now I'll go easy on you, Twinkletoes, but make no mistake…this is gonna hurt in the morning…"

I screamed and ran outside. She caught me by the cistern and ground my face into the dirt while spanking me with the trough.

Suffice to say, the night ended the way it should have begun.

"Hello?" Ty Lee chirped.

"Ty Lee…" I whispered, my whole body in pain. "I need a favor…"

"_Aang_? Oh my gosh, what's wrong?"

"Can you bake a cake?"

"Uh, _yeah_? Ohh…_ohh_! I know why! Don't you worry, honey, my sister and Mai and I are _on_ this."

"I love you," I said honestly. "I'll text you my ideas. Right now, I need to take an ice bath."

"Uh, why?"

I pondered what to say for a minute. "Toph Chef," I finally admitted.

* * *

Who would've thought we'd all love Ty Lee so much?

She came to school the next day bearing a beautiful, heart-shaped chocolate cake, decorated with blue icing saying 'Katara – Prom?', hidden tastefully under a cake pan. Even better, she looked at our various bruises, noticed the smug smile on Toph's face, and wisely decided to say nothing.

"Ty Lee, I swear to God, anything you want in this world, we will hook you up," I said, taking the cake from her.

"All I want is to go dress shopping with all the girls," she said with a beaming smile. Mai and Toph gave identical eye rolls.

"I guess we should get on that," Suki said, with less reluctance than I expected. Did she actually _like_ Zuko?

"She's coming! Aang, do it now!"

Sokka grabbed Toph's hand and the rest of them ducked behind Mai's Range Rover to watch. Katara walked up, scrolling through messages on her phone, and almost bumped into me (which would have been fucking disastrous).

"Oh, Aang, sorry, didn't see you there, listen, I know you're not there yet, but there's this chemistry problem and I can't figure it out and Haru can't – "

"Katara," I interjected, the mere mention of Haru sending me into paroxysms of panic, "I have something to ask you."

"Huh?" She looked up from her phone, her blue eyes adorably baffled.

At a loss for suave words, I took the top off the cake and held it out to her.

For half a moment she just stared, and then her whole face blushed and she stowed her phone in her pocket. "Oh, _Aang_…"

She held out her hands and received the cake like a baby, smiling in the adorable way that made her copper cheeks dimple. She looked up at me and giggled.

"Was this what you idiots were trying to make in the kitchen?"

I nodded.

She laughed. "So who _did_ make this?"

"Ty Lee," I admitted.

She shook her head, still smiling. "Well, it's the thought that counts, right?"

I blinked. What the hell did that mean?

She finally laughed at my confusion. "Aang, honey, _yes_. I don't want to go with anyone else."

I knew she would say it. But my whole face still burst into a smile. It didn't hurt whenever everyone jumped out screaming from behind the Range Rover and ran over to us.

"_Guys_," Katara sighed.

"Prom King and Queen, right fucking here!" Zuko yelled, as everyone whooped.

"And we're gonna nominate Toph and Suki too!" Sokka yelled.

"_Jesus fuck no_," both girls said at once.

"It's bad enough that Ty Lee and I still have to do it," Mai drawled.

"Well, you know what this means," Katara said. She stuck a finger in the icing and licked it off. "We got dress shopping to do, girls."

Ty Lee whooped, Suki and Mai sighed, and Toph stamped her boot-clad foot and said, "_Fuck everything_."

"It won't be so bad," Katara said. "We'll make it as painless as possible."

"Can I just have some cake already?"

Katara smiled and wordlessly handed the cake to Toph. Her whole face burst in a grin and she turned around and placed it on the hood of the Range Rover.

"Well, Jesus, you guys don't want me to eat this all on my own, do you?" She said. "Cause I could, trust me."

Everyone moved forward to devour the cake, but I grabbed Katara's hand and pulled her close for a quick secret kiss. She looked up at me through her hair and smiled.

"Thanks for asking me," she said softly.

"Like I would ever ask anyone else?" I kissed her again. "I promise you baby, win or lose, it's gonna be the best prom ever."

"I've never doubted that," she said, beaming.

* * *

Today had rapidly become one of those very rare days when Toph was glad she was blind.

"Oh – my – Gosh!" Katara squealed. Ty Lee was eeping and jumping up and down, and even Suki and Mai seemed reluctantly impressed. Toph crossed her arms, pouted, and figured out pretty quick what they were seeing. She'd been to enough of these with her mom when she was little. Dresses on dresses on dresses, all different colors that hurt her rapidly deteriorating eyes, with overly-sweet attendants who would look her up and down and declare her body type 'difficult'. Fucking _shit_.

But it was for the girls. They wanted this. Deep down, beneath all the dirt and liquor, Toph supposed she wanted it.

If only one could go to Prom in sneakers and jeans.

"Come on, Tophie, let's find dresses!" Ty Lee squeaked, grabbing her hand and pulling her forward. Toph heard the rustle of dresses and made the conscious decision to not be a bitch (for the first time EVER, mind you).

"So, uh, Ty…what exactly are you looking for? Like, dress wise?"

"Well, that's a good question," Ty Lee said, as she clinked clothes hangers. "I'm very tall and skinny, so flowy stuff looks pretty good on me. Pink and white are my best colors, and I have great legs, so I wouldn't mind going short for this Prom. Plus, I have one more next year, I can go long then. Ballerina stuff looks good on me, and of course, it has to match with Teo – "

"Oh, he asked you?"

"Sure did! Such a sweetheart, got me a big bunch of roses too! I'll have to call him and see if he can get a tux in my color."

"Sounds good," Toph said. _I understood, like, a third of that. What color is pink again?_

Apparently Ty Lee was more receptive than she thought. "Oh, darling, you don't know what I'm talking about, do you? Don't worry about me, hun, I've been shopping since I was a kid. The question is, what are _you_ going to wear?"

"_Excellent_ question, Ty Lee!" Katara swooped down like she had a honing device. Toph groaned. "I was thinking empire waist, what do you think?"

"Oh, no, it'll make her tits fall out," Suki said, walking up. "Long and straight, with a big slit."

"_No_," Mai said. "Short. She has killer legs, we have to show them off. Sweetheart neckline."

"As long as she's in blue with Sokka, it doesn't matter," Ty Lee said.

"Oh, yes, I agree!" Fucking shit, now the sales lady was in on it. "Blue would be excellent on her – "

"No blue!" Toph snapped.

Everyone went quiet.

_Uh. Way to fail on not being a bitch_.

"Uh…" she said, "I, uh…I don't really…uh…"

"What's wrong with blue?" The saleslady asked. Toph's face went red. Oh, God, she didn't know –

"Toph is blind," Katara said firmly. "She doesn't remember every color. Earthy tones, like greens and creams, are easiest for her. I assume she doesn't want to be wearing a color she doesn't know, don't you?"

Toph nodded gratefully. For some reason, this was the first time in her life that someone else talking for her didn't make her wicked uncomfortable.

"Oh, uh…"

Toph sighed and tossed her bangs to the side. The saleslady finally caught a glimpse of her eyes.

"_Oh_! I'm so sorry, my dear. Don't worry, I'll find something for you – "

"That's very kind," Katara said, "but I'll help her if you don't mind. We'll call you if we need to."

Dude, _Katara_. Way to come through.

The saleslady finally bustled off, and Toph turned to where she thought Katara was, trying to reach her through her eyes. God, if she could only fucking _see_ her –

"I got you, babe," Katara said, a smile in her voice. "Now ladies, we have five days till Prom and an unlimited platinum credit card. _Get to work_!"

Everyone scattered. Toph stuck close to Katara and followed her around as she briskly clanked clothes hangers together, occasionally throwing Toph stuff to hold onto. It was barely five minutes before Mai came up to them and said dully that she wasn't going to find anything here.

"Well, there's that vintage thrift shop down the way," Katara said.

Toph could practically hear Mai's sigh of relief. "Yeah, I'll be there."

She trundled off and Katara said,

"Do you have any particular preference for different types of green?"

"Uh…there are different types of green?"

"I'll…take that as a no. Okay."

"Kat, do you…I mean…"

"Kitty Kat!" Ty Lee's voice bounded up. "Sukes and I are gonna go next door, you guys wanna come?"

"I got some good stuff here, I'll try it on. Text me if you find anything!"

"See you guys later!" Suki called, as their footsteps faded away. Katara continued to rustle through the dresses, pulling a few out and holding them up against Toph's body, and then finally taking the huge pile of dresses and saying, "Okay, let's try."

Oh, _God_. Toph just nodded, her heart pounding up and up and up.

"Shh, baby," Katara said. "I'm here, I got you." She picked out a few of the dresses and handed them to Toph. "Here's the dressing room, you put them on and tell me how they feel, okay?"

Toph could only nod. Her voice had seemed to fade from loud as a foghorn to nonexistent, all due to a few dresses. She gripped the shiny, slippery fabric and tapped her cane into the dressing room. Once there, she stripped with trembling fingers, guessing that her bra straps would show through these dresses. But letting her boobs hang free was the equivalent of a Richter-scale earthquake. She had a strapless bra, somewhere, probably back at home –

_Focus, Toph! _She grabbed the first one and slipped her stocking feet in, feeling the fabric slide over her unshaved legs (need to get on that). Her fingers grappled for the zipper or something, but the dress kept sliding all over her, she couldn't figure it out, there were straps and bows and ribbons everywhere –

It came out before she could stop it. "Katara?"

"Yeah?"

"I, uh…I can't…"

"Oh. One second, sweetie, I'll be right there."

Toph stood, awkwardly half-naked, until Katara let herself into the dressing room. With a quick _tsk_, Katara's nimble fingers reached around and moved the dress over and up. "It was on backwards, baby."

Toph's whole face set on fire.

"Stand up straight, sweetheart."

She stood up and took a deep breath, throwing her shoulders back. Katara slide the zipper up, where it felt snug against her back. Even though Toph spent half of her time in booty shorts and tank tops, she somehow felt even more naked in this slithery floor-length dress that she could tell hugged all her curves. It was fine going to party with her friends at her house…but in front of the whole damn _school_?

Katara had pulled her out of the dressing room so she could see it. "Hmm. I don't know about it. How does it feel?"

"Tight," she replied honestly.

"Good tight or bad tight?"

"I don't know," she also said honestly. "My parents generally picked out my clothes for formal events."

"Hmm. Okay, well, let's see the next one. I'll take mine off and come help you."

"Oh, how does yours look?" She could hear the rustle of Katara's dress, even though she hadn't worn her hearing aids today.

"Oh, I don't know, the fits great, but I don't know if the color's right…"

Toph's face burned again. God_damn_ it. "Kat, look…I'm sorry I can't, you know…_help_ more. You should go find Suki and Ty Lee, they know this shit, I don't really – "

"Toph," she said firmly, "I love them. I really do. But right now, I couldn't ask for anyone better than you as a dress shopping partner."

Toph's face was still red. But she managed a tiny smile.

"Go get the next one. I'll be in in a moment."

Toph complied and returned to her dressing room. She and Katara got into a rhythm – Katara would dress herself, come in, zip Toph up, and then spin her in a circle, tut, and proclaim it dissatisfactory. Eventually Toph asked,

"Dude, how are your dresses going?"

Katara sighed as she unzipped her. "I have two that I really like…they fit well, and the color's good, but I can't really decide."

"Can I feel them?"

Katara started. "Huh?"

"It's all I've got, dude. Hashtag-Toph-is-blind."

"Yeah, sure. This is the one I'm wearing now."

She reached out to grab the fabric and found it slippery and silky. It fell in big waves down her body, and was only held back by a ribbon at the bodice.

"What's the other one?"

Katara grabbed her hand and led her into the dressing room, where she handed her another dress. Immediately Toph felt her breath catch. The fabric was something soft, like suede, or satin…it had texture to it. Her fingers tripped over silky accents at the waist, and what felt like crystals at the bodice.

"Put this one on."

She assumed Katara rolled her eyes, but she unzipped the dress and the fabric fell to the floor. She stepped into the dress, and Toph actually reached up to zip her up. Katara turned around, and Toph ran her hands all over the dress. It fit her like a glove…better, if that was possible. She felt the way that Katara's slender hips flowed under the fabric, the swirls running through the skirt, and finally, at the curved neckline, just a smattering of crystals.

"This one," she said.

"Really?" Katara spun around to look at the mirror. "Why this one?"

"It feels like you," she said simply.

Katara paused a moment, twirling around in the dress. Toph held her breath, wondering what she thought.

"Is it…like a good color?"

"Yeah, yeah…it's a good color for me. Very blue, deep blue. I guess…"

"What does it feel like?"

"What does this blue feel like? Feels like…a night sky. Feels like the feeling when the night is darkest just before dawn, or like the ocean, way out to sea, where there's nothing stopping it. That's this blue."

"That's _you_, Kat."

"You think so?"

"I _know_ so."

Katara looked at herself for another moment.

"Then I think we have our winner."

Toph burst into a smile. "Really?"

"Really. I like this dress. And I do think…yeah, I think it looks like me. It _feels_ like me."

"That's all Aang wants, dude. Just wants you to be you."

"Oh, _Toph_…I'm really getting excited for this! Maybe I'll…no, can't say it, I'll jinx it." She reached back and unzipped the dress.

"You're gonna win, Kat! You have to!"

"Oh, baby, we'll see…as long as Aang wins, that's all I care about…oh, now we have to find something for you…"

Only Katara would find a dress for herself and get more stressed out. "Toph, go in the room and put on that green…uh, that like thick one. With the…fuzzy fabric."

Toph sighed and trudged back to the dressing room while Katara put her regular clothes on. Two seconds later, without even zipping it up fully, Katara took one look at the dress and snapped,

"Oh, Lord, it's terrible, take it off, take it off. Oh, Lord…"

Toph slipped the dress off and could practically feel Katara taking in her underwear-clad body, all big boobs and hips and muscles and ivory-pale skin.

"Ugh, _Tophie_…"

"I know," she sighed, "I'm _difficult_."

"I just…okay. Okay. We're not giving up. We're gonna find one. Maybe not in this store, maybe not in this goddamned city, but we will find – "

Her voice suddenly died.

"What?" Toph asked.

"Excuse me, miss," Katara yelled to the attendant, somewhere off in the store, "do you have this dress in any other colors?"

The attendant came over and said, "Yeah, sure, let me show you what we've got."

Toph stood, half-naked, in the dressing room, her ears perked as Katara did something, somewhere. "Mmm, no, wrong green, it doesn't go with her eyes…we need something light, like a lily pad…she's got these beautiful jade eyes…something kinda, I don't know…oh, OH! That! Get me that one!"

"What size?"

"Eight, right, Tophie?"

"Uh, yeah, I think – "

The attendant went off. "You know, it's gonna need tailoring, with her bust – "

"No, it won't," Katara said firmly. "Trust me on this."

"What's going on?" Toph called out.

"Just wait, okay…_ah_! Oh, God, oh, I've got a good feeling – Tophie, put this one on." She stuck her hand in and gave her a whole mess of soft fabric. "Oh, hey, guys! Any luck shopping?"

The dressing room door closed, and Toph muttered to herself as she attempted to figure out the dress while Suki and Ty Lee talked outside. "I think I got one, Sukes has got to do more looking – "

"There was one in here I wanted to try…did you get any, Kat?"

"Yeah, this gorgeous blue one…I think you guys are gonna love it…we're working on Miss Beifong right now…any luck, hun?"

"Can you come zip it?"

Katara opened the door and did her magic on the zipper. Toph smoothed it over her hips and actually kinda liked the feel of this one. The off-the-shoulder straps felt a little weird, but… "Kat, what do you think?"

Katara was silent.

"Dude?"

Nothing.

Toph started to get nervous. Ugh, Katara, really? She reached back to undo the zipper, ready to just –

Katara opened the door and literally pushed her out.

"Ugh, _goddamn_ it, dude – " she practically stumbled over the dress and when she got to her feet, her hair was all a mess. She pushed her bangs out of her eyes and straightened up.

"Dude, seriously, what's going on – "

"_Toph_," Ty Lee whispered reverently. Toph figured out that she was probably standing out in the little area in front of the waiting room.

"Oh, hey," she said. "You found a dress?"

Ty Lee didn't answer. She heard the attendant's footsteps, before she gasped and said, "Oh, my _word_."

"Told you," Katara said smugly.

"She's wearing that," Suki said. "There's no choice. Oh, my God. If she doesn't wear that I will no longer have a purpose in life."

"No, she's wearing it," Katara said. "I don't care how much it is, I will sell my firstborn child to make sure that she goes to Prom in this."

"Guys, seriously, I don't even know what I look like – "

"Kat, get her hair."

Without even asking permission, Katara reached up and yanked Toph's hair out of the elastic. Toph's

'ow' was drowned out by synchronized gasps.

"Oh, my God, her black hair with that dress!" Ty Lee almost whimpered.

"Huh?" Toph couldn't believe her hair was what was suddenly pulling this outfit together. She hadn't brushed it in a solid week. It lay like a clumped mass all over her shoulders and chest.

"_Toph_…" Holy fuck, it sounded like Katara was _crying_.

"What do I look like?" She barked out of desperation.

"Toph…haven't you felt yourself in that dress?"

As awkward as it was to feel yourself down in public, Toph put her hands up. There was a simple straight bodice, with the straps reaching over to lay across her biceps. The waist was cinched in by a tight, wide band, and it all fell down in soft pleats to the floor. It felt nice, not too heavy, like she could actually move in it, but still…

"I really don't see what's so special about it," she said.

"Baby, that's cause you can't see yourself," Katara said. "Sokka is gonna go _crazy_."

"_Why_?"

"Cause honey, you look like, you look like…like…"

"A triumphant queen returning from battle." Mai had apparently returned from her shopping. "Ready to come back and mold her own destiny."

Everyone murmured in agreement. Toph blushed and folded her hands in front of the dress, a gesture from her Beifong days that had instinctually risen up.

_A triumphant queen? Ready to mold my own destiny?_

_Yeah…I could definitely get behind that._

* * *

The push and pull of breath was sacred to human civilization. Mai knew this. It kept us alive in the face of a harsh world. We should be relishing it.

So why did she insist on destroying it?

As she sat on the porch at Sakura's apartment, the smoke from her cigarette filling the night air, she no longer had to delude herself about how smoking felt. It tainted her lungs. Made her cough every now and then. Made her mouth taste dirty, like ash. She took another drag and pushed the smoke out through her thin lips. Why did she keep doing it?

Ty Lee and Sakura's screams came from inside. They were watching the Kardashians at the same time as fixing Ty Lee's prom dress to make it even more girly, if that was possible.

_Oh wait_, she mused, that's_ why I smoke._

_Goddamn it, Mai, don't be a bitch. _Ty Lee was all she had left. She'd taken her in when her parents kicked her out. Whenever everything got turned upside down, Ty Lee hadn't been fazed. She kept dancing through life like the candy-hyper five-year-old she was at heart.

But still…

Her phone buzzed from her back pocket. She pulled it out and was shocked to see 'Azula Agni' on the caller ID.

"Azula?" She asked, holding the phone to her ear.

"Yo."

"Uh…hey?"

"Sup."

"Why are you calling me? We haven't spoken in, like, a month."

"If you don't want to talk to me, I'd be happy to go," she said, miffed.

"No, Zula, don't go. I'm just surprised. What's up?"

"Are you going to Prom?"

"Uh, yeah."

"What are you wearing?"

Where the fuck was this coming from? "Uh…a black dress. It's a tight bodice and then has a black velvet skirt with lace cutouts."

"That sounds pretty."

"Azula, are you trying to be, like, _girly_ with me?"

"What, like it's never happened before?"

"No, actually. It hasn't."

Azula harrumphed into the phone. "Don't be ridiculous, Mai."

"Uh, well, you can cut the shit, I can give you Ty Lee if you wanna talk that crap. She and Sakura are adding even more pink to her dress."

"Who is she taking?"

"Teo, the kid in the wheelchair."

"And who are you taking?"

Mai blinked, and then realized she didn't have anyone else around. She let her true annoyance show as she breathed on the cigarette. "No one."

"Nobody asked you?"

"No, genius."

"Maybe if you were nicer they would."

"You mean nice like you are to Ozai when he beats and rapes you? If that's what it takes to get a date to Prom, I'm good, thanks."

Azula paused. Mai sighed. "Sorry, bro."

"No, you're right. I'm…almost done though. Only one more public event of being arm candy and then I'm free."

"You're going to Kai University in the District?"

"They don't know it, but I am. I've sent in the application papers and everything. I turn eighteen right before I'm going to leave. Then they can't do anything to me."

Mai smiled, for probably the first time in two weeks. "Atta girl."

"You?"

"Going to the art school here. I got a great scholarship. Besides, somebody needs to stay with Ty."

"That person doesn't have to be you."

It didn't. Mai finished the cigarette, tamped out the butt, and then threw it off the balcony. The world outside of this little apartment stared at her, wide and challenging, filled with as many valleys as mountains, stars and canyons in equal droves. And what the fuck was she supposed to do to this world? What was anybody supposed to do? Was she going to sit on balconies and smoke for the rest of her life?

What the hell was _Ty Lee_ going to do?

"She needs me," she finally said. "She doesn't have anyone else. Sakura's on a tight budget, we can't stay here forever. I've got a job lined up at the bookstore. With our trust funds together, that should get us an apartment. She can…I don't know, teach gymnastics, or something. Twirl through the streets in a tutu and beg for cash, she'll probably make more than me. She never planned on being alone. She needs me…and right now, it's kinda nice to be needed."

Azula stayed silent. Mai exhaled and rolled her tongue around in her mouth. A month ago, telling Azula this kind of personal stuff would be setting yourself up for blackmail, treachery and general bitchiness. Now…

"She's not the one I'm worried about," Azula said. "It's you. And Zuko."

"Since when did you possess the human _capability_ to worry?"

"Since when did you _care_ about Ty Lee? I'm sure I have you on record somewhere talking about how Ty Lee is the dumbest creature to ever walk this earth."

"I mean, she still _is_, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy her company."

"What the _fuck_?"

"Dude, without you, we've been through a lot of stuff! We had that party at Toph Beifong's, we stayed there together in the ER waiting for you to get better, we went and fucked up Ozai's house…I don't know, she fucking grew on me, so sue me! And why in the _hell_ are you worrying about me?"

"When was the last time you were happy?"

Mai's heart paused, for just a moment. Just long enough for the clouds to shift in the sky.

"Probably the last time you were happy," she replied.

After a moment, Azula actually chuckled. "Well said, Mai."

"Ha. Well, you don't need to worry about Zuko, he's got Suki and all them. They're good friends."

"Suki, huh."

"Suki."

Ugh, _Suki_. She _emoted_. Mai supposed Zuko needed that. He needed to be happy every once in a while, too. Come to think of it, was Ty Lee the only one of the four of them that was consistently happy?

"Suki's cool," Mai said, brushing it off. "She's whatever. I like her. She's tough. She'll be fine."

"Do you want me to find you a date? I'm sure I could drag one up. One that doesn't beat and rape."

"Nah, it's cool. I need to stand on my own anyway. Need to take my stand."

"I'll be with you. I'm voting for Aang."

"I know. Thank you."

"Mai…"

"What?"

"You've made my night…good. Thank you."

Mai wiggled her toes in her slippers. "Anytime, Zula."

"Tell Ty Lee I miss her, okay? And I…you know…"

"Love her?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Mai snorted. "Okay. What are you wearing to Prom?"

"I'll be in red. You can't miss me, I promise."

"Never could. Peace out, girl."

"Bye, Mai."

She pressed the end button and stared at her phone for a few seconds.

"Who was that, Mai-Mai?"

Ty Lee leaned against the open door, her usual high braid replaced by a soft one falling over her white nightdress.

"Azula."

"Really?" Ty Lee's face lit up. "How is she?"

"Good. She says she loves you."

Ty Lee blinked a few times as her eyes welled up with tears. "_Really_?"

"Really."

Her whole face burst into an adorable dimpled smile. She ran forward and pulled Mai up, crushing her into the biggest hug of her whole life.

"This is gonna be the best Prom ever!" She squealed.

Mai rolled her eyes and patted her back. "Just maybe, Ty. Just maybe."

* * *

"_Aang_, you little shitstick…"

"Don't hate just because you're not as good at this as I am."

Sokka stuck his tongue out and wrenched the controller around, for some reason thinking it would help him go around turns faster. "God, is all you do play Mario Kart?"

"Before I had friends, yeah." Aang grinned as he easily cruised through the finish line, the cheesy celebration noises blaring out of the speakers. "Suck on that meaty cock."

Sokka groaned and fell backwards. "Don't you have something better to do?"

"Don't _you_?"

"No, _I'm_ graduating, I'm checked out, I have senioritis. You have to pass your classes."

"I've got all A's, I'm fine. Let's do Rainbow Road next!"

"No! Goddamn it, I am _not_ going on that candy-coated terror strip! I would like to not shit my pants in fear whenever I fall off the sides, which I inevitably do!"

"That's cause you suck ass, here, I'll teach you the shortcuts – "

"We're home!" Katara's voice rang out through the house as she opened the door. Appa came sprinting up, barking. "Hi, baby! Have you been a good boy? Oh yes you have my little schnookums, yes you have – "

"Hey Momo," Toph said with a grin, reaching out to pet the cat.

"Do _not_ let Momo get his fur all over your nice dress!"

"You got a dress!" Sokka leaned over the back of the couch. "Lemme see!"

Toph walked up, smiling secretly, and lightly slapped him. "If I don't get to see it, neither do you. Not until Prom night."

"She looks breathtaking," Katara said, which made Toph blush.

"Well, you gotta tell me what color it is so I can get the tux matched!" Sokka said.

"How should I know?"

"It's pale green," Katara said. "Like the color of her eyes. And get an off-white dress shirt."

"Ugh, Katara, where the fuck am I going to find an off-white dress shirt?"

"What color are you wearing?" Aang asked.

"Blue, obviously."

"Yes!" Aang punched the ear. "Easy peasy, lemon squeasy. I can wear what I wore to Homecoming – "

"_Fuck_ no you can't, you need to get a tux."

"But, _Katara_ – "

"No buts! Nobody is going to vote for you if you show up to Prom without a tux!"

"What color is Suki wearing?" Zuko asked, wandering into the room and rubbing his eyes after a nap.

"Don't know, she didn't get her dress today."

Zuko groaned and flopped down on the couch next to Appa. "God, you women. Do you have _any_ idea how hard it is to get a tux?"

"Probably about as hard as it is to get a dress that fits Toph, so _suck_ it. Come on baby, let's hang our dresses up." As Katara walked out of the room, Toph stuck her tongue out playfully before skipping behind her.

"Have you ever seen her _skip_?" Aang asked.

"I just can't wait to see this dress," Sokka said, a stupid grin on his face. "I've only seen her in a dress once! You get to see Katara in dresses all the time!"

"Suki never wears dresses," Zuko pointed out. "Or Mai. So we're even there."

"Better not talk about Mai in front of Suki," Aang said.

"What, they're cool."

"Women are _never_ cool," Sokka said emphatically.

Zuko sighed. "Whatever. As long as there's no drama/catfighting/whatever, I'm cool."

"Suki is the _queen_ of catfights," Katara said, walking out. She stretched out her back and then fell right down into Aang's lap with a sigh. "But she and Mai seemed fine today, so I think we're good."

"You sound exhausted," Aang said, stroking her hair.

"Yeah, shopping is hard work," she said with a yawn. "I kinda just want to chill out and watch TV."

"We can do that," Zuko said, smiling at the interaction. Sokka saw everyone settling in and saw his chance. He immediately got up and headed down to the girls' room.

He caught Toph just as she was zipping the dress back into its black bag, and he caught a glimpse of a soft, pale green fabric before she turned around at the sound of the door.

"Sokka? That you?"

"How did you know?" he asked, coming over to flop down on the bed.

"I know your steps by now, hun." She zipped up the dress and turned to him with a smile. He grabbed her hands and pulled her in for a kiss. The blush that always spread across her cheeks when he kissed her was so damn cute.

"Did you see the dress, after I told you not to?"

"I didn't mean to! But Katara's right, it is a pretty color."

She smiled and fell down on the bed beside him. "I definitely remember green. It's sweet and gentle, but still kinda spicy."

"Like you."

She laughed. "Sorry you have to find a difficult tux."

"It's all good. Can't be worse than finding fucking lavender for Yue's dress for Homecoming."

Toph sighed and rested her head in his shoulder. "I'm sorry you couldn't go with her again."

"Me too. But that doesn't mean I'm not ecstatic to go with you."

She gave a little smile and nuzzled even further.

"How was Katara today?"

"Really good," Toph admitted. "She really helped. I don't know where she gets all that patience. She didn't even worry about herself. Like, she made it her personal mission on this earth to get me a dress. I just wish I knew…you know, like, what to do for her."

"Katara doesn't need a lot, babe. She just needs to feel loved. And hope. She needs hope more than food."

"She's so skinny, hope may be all she eats," Toph muttered. "Was she always like this?"

"First word out of her mouth was 'hope'."

"Really?"

"Nah, it was 'fish'. But close enough, you know."

Toph gave her little giggle.

"I'm just excited to get to see you all dressed up, like back when you were at your parents'."

She rolled her eyes. "Ugh. I didn't even pick my own clothes. And they gave me the worst colors when I was little, like yellows and reds. I definitely remember those. They were so tight, and those goddamn obis meant I couldn't breathe…but I guess it will be nice to finally get the dirt out of my hair."

Sokka pulled her close, feeling the brush of her bangs against his neck. To see her in such a relaxed state was so rare, and he definitely didn't think dress shopping would be the cause.

"What's gonna happen next year?" she murmured.

"You mean with us?"

She nodded.

"I don't know, honey bunny. I mean…what do you think?"

She took a few minutes. Her eyelashes blinking into his neck gave little fluttering butterfly kisses. One of her hands gripped his shirt.

"I want to stay together," she finally said.

"Even if I go back to the District?"

"Even if you go back to the District," she said. "I don't think I would forgive myself I didn't at least give this a try. I don't…I love us, I love this. I know we haven't been together long, but…I'm willing to fight for it. Something about you fits."

Sokka took a moment to think about it, stroking his hands over her black hair (which was admittedly kinda greasy). Toph's breath quickened and she said,

"I mean, if you don't want to, it's totally cool, like I'll be fine – "

"Shh, Toph. Honey. I love you, okay?"

She raised her face to him and smiled. "I love you too."

"If we do long-distance, we're gonna have to work at it, okay? We won't be living together again. We won't be able to have sex as often. Since you can't text, we'll have to call a lot, okay?"

She bit her lip and nodded. "We'll have to be mature."

"Mm-hmm. There's gonna be a lot of shitty, lonely nights. And we'll go out to parties and feel lonely without each other."

She nodded again, her face set. "We both have to get good at masturbating."

"Um, I'm excellent at masturbating."

"So am I, I can make myself cum in fifteen minutes flat."

"Damn," he admitted. "How do you do that?"

"Want me to show you?" She said, giving him her sultry smile.

He laughed and said, "Rain check? Right now…I kinda just want to…_be_ with you."

In response, she pushed him down on the bed and cuddled up in his arms, curling up into a tiny ball.

"That's all I ever want, Socks," she said with a smile. "That's really all I ever want."

* * *

"Katara."

She looked up from her homework to the sound of her name. Toph stood in the doorway of the living room, holding a hair brush like it was a grenade.

"Let's do this," she said in a low grunt.

Katara jumped up and clapped her hands together. "Really? Hilary Duff movie time?"

"Hilary Duff movie time." Toph sounded like nothing else had ever sounded so heinous in her entire life.

The boys gave each other humored glances. Sokka even sniggered.

"Oh, go ahead and laugh now," Toph said. "Go ahead and enjoy me being girly while it's happening. But if any of you mention this tomorrow or for the rest of our lives, I will personally assfuck you with a cactus."

The boys fell silent.

"Alright, Kat, let's get this over with."

Katara, oblivious to the death threats, jumped up, grabbed Toph's hand and tugged her into the bedroom. She could feel Toph shaking, but she was still doing this.

She ran and grabbed Aang's laptop, plugged it in, and then closed the door. As she started riffling through her movie collection, she asked, "Do you have any particular Hilary Duff movie preference?"

"Can't exactly say that I've seen any of them."

"_What_?" Katara turned around. "_Really_? How did you have a childhood?"

"Dude, I wasn't exactly big on watching movies."

It still took Katara a second. Then she blushed.

"Can't believe I still forget that…"

"It's pretty bad," Toph said, but at least she was grinning now. "We've been rooming together for six months and you still forget I can't see?"

"Shut up. Well, obviously we have to start with the 'Lizzie McGuire Movie', if you've never seen any of them. After that we can move on to 'Raise your Voice' and 'Cheaper by the Dozen'."

"Fuck me sideways," Toph groaned. Katara rolled her eyes and popped the movie in. As the previews started to roll, she cuddled up beside Toph.

"Dude, what are you doing? I have to play with your hair."

"Hun, it's fine – "

"When Toph Beifong makes a promise, I keep that promise. Why don't you sit on the floor so then I can reach your hair?"

Katara blushed and scooted down to the floor, her back against the bed, as Hilary Duff started heading to her graduation. "Have you ever, like, done this before?"

Toph's fingers moved awkwardly up to her head. "I mean, maybe, once, with Song, but she's a lot like you. She'd rather take care of me then let me take care of her."

She started to tug at Katara's high ponytail, which made her wince. After another few moments, she said,

"Hun…can you not…_ouch_ – "

"Oh, fuck, am I hurting you? Ugh, I am so _bad_ at this – "

"No, you're not, here." She reached up and pulled out her own ponytail. "It's okay, see?"

Toph took a deep breath. "I'm out of my comfort zone, Kat."

"I know, you're doing great."

"Is this like…what girls normally do?"

"I think so."

"You don't know?"

Katara pulled her knees to her chest. "I mean, it's what they do in movies and stuff…I never really had any friends after Mom died…and I couldn't do this stuff with Sokka. So I don't know."

Toph paused. Hilary Duff said something stupid on the TV. Katara held still, thoughts racing. Even after knowing Toph so well for so long, it still seemed so lame to admit to having no friends. _I wouldn't blame her if she just kinda…I don't even know…_

But then Toph's small, calloused fingers reached up and worked themselves into Katara's thick hair. Toph rubbed at her scalp, a little rougher than Katara would have wanted, but she slowly felt her muscles relaxing, all the tension in her neck slipping down like a rock down a waterfall.

Toph picked up the brush and began to pull at Katara's hair, but quickly figured out that it wasn't going to work and just went for her fingers again. She had a truly sensitive touch, and she pulled her fingers through the knots. Katara rested her head on Toph's tiny, bony knees.

"What color is your hair?"

"Brown."

"What kind of brown?"

"Chocolate brown, I think."

"What does that feel like?"

"I guess…it feels like when you eat chocolate. Like all warm and fuzzy inside. That's what I think it feels like."

"You must be really pretty."

"Oh, I don't know…Aang seems to think so. But I've never really relied on my looks to get me anywhere. Didn't feel like it was gonna do anything for me, you know?"

Toph nodded. Her hands, having worked through the almost three feet of hair, moved up to the crown and started pulling it into bunches. After a while, Katara asked,

"Hun, what are you doing?"

"Braiding, dipshit."

"You know how to braid?"

"Don't have to see to braid," Toph replied, beginning to plait her hair together. "I actually think my mother might have taught me this. Using ribbons and stuff. I don't really have the patience to do it on myself, though."

"If you brushed your hair more than once a week, it wouldn't be such a big deal."

Toph snorted and kept going. Katara turned her eyes to the screen, watching the sexual tension between Hilary Duff and whatever hunky Italian guy they'd dragged up to play the male lead. She felt her tummy stir and figured that if there ever was a time to ask, it was now…

"Hey, Tophie?"

"Yeah?"

"What is sex like?"

Toph paused for a moment, and then continued. "Are you thinking about doing it with Twinkles?"

"I don't know…I just…like, I really _love_ him, Toph, and I know he loves me…and he know he wants to make me happy and he's not gonna make me do anything I don't want to….I guess I'm just worried he's gonna be expecting something on Prom night."

"Do _you_ want to have sex with him?"

"I mean, yeah, of course…but I'm just…ugh. I'm not like you, I can't just do things because I think of them, I overanalyze everything."

Toph scoffed. "Please, Sugar Queen. I'm not going to say I regret sleeping with your brother – cause I don't – but I would hardly call it a well-informed decision. We were drunk and I was horny. We didn't even have a condom. It was perfect for me, but I feel like you're going to want something more for your first time."

She scrunched up her nose. "I've never thought about it…I mean, I have, but like, what girl actually knows what she wants with sex? I want him, and I know he's gonna make it perfect, but I don't know if I like, need the rose petals on the bed or shit like that…_I don't know_. I'm all like horny, and he just makes my junk like…like…"

"Tingle."

"_Yes_! It tingles. And then…fucking…_stuff_ comes out – "

"That's cum, sweetie."

"_That's_ what that is?"

"Mm-hmm," Toph said with a smile.

"Oh, _Jesus_…I mean…I gave him a handjob…that's like halfway there, right?"

"Jesus, no. Not even close."

"So what _is_ it like? What does it feel like?"

Toph exhaled and thought about it for a moment. "Well, do you use tampons?"

"Yeah."

"So it's not gonna be terrible for you, pain-wise. It shouldn't, at least. But it's like…okay, so you're naked, or close enough and you're making out or fingering or whatever, and you're having a lot of fun…and then he sticks _it_ inside of you. Just right there. And it's like, for a bit you're torn. Cause he's taken it, it's gone, there's nothing left. And if you love him it's not that bad, it actually feels good, but the feeling of the penis inside of you is kind of like…it's violating, you know. Like, he's taking you. And you have to sit there and take it like a good bitch. I don't know…I love sex, and Sokka's great cause I'm on top a lot – " Katara cringed at hearing the sexual habits of her big brother, but didn't say anything, "But I feel like with anyone else, it would be…well, for me at least – kinda insulting. Like, I want sex and it makes me feel good, but you gotta have a good relationship with him. One where he treats you like it is his goddamned privilege to fuck you, not like it's his right. Cause then you're happy to give it to them. Cause they don't have the power, _you_ do. They want your vagina. And you have to remember that. And talking about this makes me so upset that I'm having sex, but…" she paused for a moment, "I don't know, when you love him, it's what you want to do. It's something you can give him, like your whole body. Where he sees all your scars and doesn't care."

Katara pulled her legs closer in her skimpy shorts and let her chin fall heavy. The idea that there was this secret, primal thing that she could do, something that would bring her closer to Aang then anything else…she felt everything stirring up, in her heart, between her legs. The feeling was electrifying and terrifying.

"Oh, and it hurts like a bitch," Toph continued. "Penises are big. And then if you're like me, he really tears your shit and you bleed for the next week even though you're not on your period."

"What the _fuck_?" Katara gasped. "You bled for a _week_?"

"Oh, yeah, dude, my vagina is the size of a pea. Even putting in tampons hurts. And your brother is – "

"Stop it stop it stop it," she said. "No more details about my big brother's…stuff."

Toph laughed. "Sorry, girl. I guess I don't particularly want to hear anything about Aang's junk either."

"Should I give him a blowjob before sex?"

"Oh, God, no, not if you can't help it. Blowjobs are the fucking _worst_. Cum is the worst tasting stuff in the whole world. It's like salty and slimy and fishy and – "

"Okay, we're done again," Katara said, finally giggling. "You're going to make me not want to have sex ever, dude."

"Best piece of advice I can give you – never ever _ever_ give a blowjob after he's been wearing a latex condom. Oh good Lord I straight up vomited. Never doing that shit again."

"What the hell did you do freshmen year? Wander around beating guys up and giving them blowjobs?"

"I mean, yeah, this is what happens when young innocent rich girls don't get to watch Hilary Duff with their roommate-sister-thing."

"Roommate-_sister_-thing?" Katara said, her voice suddenly faint and wobbly.

"I mean, yeah, don't get me wrong, I still hate you most of the time, but you're pretty much the sister I never had – _oof_!"

Katara had jumped up and hug-tackled Toph onto the bed.

"_Katara_?"

"Toph, baby," she whispered, her face buried beside Toph's large chest, "that's like the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me!"

Toph stroked her hair and thought for a moment. "Well, shit, if that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to you, that's pretty sad."

Katara giggled, her body shaking Toph's, and then Toph started laughing too, both of them lying on the bed with Hilary Duff singing about what dreams are made of in the background.

"You ready to win Prom Queen, big sis?" Toph asked.

"Fuck yeah, little sis," Katara replied.

Toph turned to her and grinned, her white-green eyes shining. "Now _that's_ what I like to hear!"

* * *

**Aah I updated! Life continues to be crazy on my end, but I do hope that these monstrously long chapters are consolation :) Also, these super-long chapters are probably gonna stop after Prom, cause they make me fucking exhausted and then it takes me like two weeks to write a chapter haha. Alright my lovers, stay with me, I got big things planned for Prom! It's the final climax of this story that we've been working on since, like, December, and I truly appreciate every single review :) I'm working on actually responding, I know I'm terrible at that. BUT I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! AAAAH PROM OH MY LANTA! Much much much love - PVB**

**PS. If any of you fans are also artists, it would make my writer heart sooo happy to commission an artwork from this story, either for the Prom outfits (coming up) or the outfits from when they went apeshit on Ozai's mansion back in chapter 24. Hit me up ;)**


	31. All For One (Prom)

**Chapter Thirty-One: All For One (Prom)**

* * *

The Saturday morning of Prom dawned bright and early. For some reason, Momo had deserted his usual post by Katara and Toph, and so I slept with both animals on my bed. I woke up and stroked both of them. Appa roused awake, sleepily blinking his big eyes.

"Today's the big day, buddy," I whispered. He made a whiny noise and licked my face while I chuckled.

"Come on, dude, I gotta look good for Katara today."

Momo finally woke up, and paced around my head.

"Wish I could take you guys. You would love it."

Momo rolled his eyes and jumped up on the windowsill. Clearly he had better things to do then go to silly proms.

"Whatever," I said. "Let's get some breakfast, Appa!"

I walked out and headed for my usual morning pee, but found that the door was locked. I jiggled the handle, but Katara snapped from inside,

"Go use Grandpa's room!"

"What, why?"

"I'm getting ready!"

"It's nine in the morning!"

"GO USE GRANDPA'S ROOM!"

"Oh, shit," I muttered. In the kitchen, Sokka, Zuko and Toph all sat around the table. Toph's hair was in its natural Afro state, and she had her head down on the table.

"Better use Grandpa's room dude, she's not moving," Sokka said.

"Why does she need to get ready this early?" I asked, giving Grandpa a hug.

"Cause she's Katara," Sokka replied.

Unfortunately, that was a good enough reason for me. I went to the bathroom and peed, and then we all enjoyed a hearty breakfast of eggs and pancakes.

"Is she even going to eat?" I asked.

"Probably not," Toph said. Her hair fell down over her face. "She's worried about fitting into her dress. Ridiculous, I already felt her in it, she's good…"

The doorbell rang, and Grandpa went to answer it. Suki rolled in, wearing her pj's with her hair in its bandana, carrying a giant bag of supplies.

"Good morning, hoodrats!" She said with a smile, kissing Grandpa on the cheek.

"Welcome, Suki. Would you like some breakfast?"

"I would, thank you," she said, sitting down. Her face looked so fresh for so early in the morning. I could see Zuko's smile widening.

"Not that I don't love you, but what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Have you never seen girls get ready for a dance before? All of us are going to lock ourselves in the bedroom/bathroom and get ready together. Mai and Ty Lee are coming over soon."

"So where are _we_ supposed to get ready?" Zuko asked.

"Not my problem," she replied, digging into the pancakes that were placed in front of her. "Do you really want to mess with Katara on Prom day? You can get ready in Grandpa's room."

"What the hell is going to take all day?" Sokka asked.

"We have to do our hair, makeup, shaving, nails…not to mention, all of us have to do Toph's hair and shit…"

Toph groaned. "Suki, you can't actually agree with Katara with this whole thing…"

"I don't know, you really should look like a girl for once in your life."

"Oh, like _you're_ one to talk."

"Uh, forgive me, but my dress today is the damned _shit_. So better get ready for this."

Zuko's adorable smiling face had pretty much already made this day worth it for me.

After another few minutes of breakfast, the doorbell rang again. Mai and Ty Lee arrived, wearing sweatpants, both carrying equally large bags.

"Yo," Mai said.

"HIIIIII!" Ty Lee skipped in and gave us all kisses. "Where's Katara?"

"Bathroom. Do you want – "

But she'd already grabbed her bag and sprinted off to the bathroom. She and Katara met each other with equal shrieks, and then the door opened and immediately locked again. Mai rolled her eyes and plopped down.

"God save me," she said. Grandpa came by and brought her a plate of eggs. She smiled and picked up a fork. "Have you guys seen her dress? It looks like the cum of a pageant queen. Pink and sparkly."

"And who's cum would you use to describe your dress?" Sokka asked.

She thought for a moment and then said, "Like Wednesday Adams fucked a prostitute, and my dress is the love child."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Suki said, sipping her tea.

"Shouldn't we be more…like…excited about this?" I said. The fact that we were talking about cum when describing Prom dresses was a little…

"Can't you tell I'm excited?" Mai drawled.

But Suki flashed me a rare smile. "Forgive us for not being excited at 9 in the morning. When you get dressed up…when you see your woman, _then_ you'll get excited."

The light filtering through the windows made soft slants on the table, and the steam from the teapot curled in the air. I smiled over my breakfast, suddenly so excited for Katara and the stunning dress she was sure to bust out tonight.

"**TOPH**!"

We all froze. Toph snapped her head up.

"GET THE FUCK IN HERE BEFORE I AM FORCED TO SCRUB YOUR FEET!"

"You wouldn't!" She yelled, her voice shaking.

"I would! And Mai, don't think you can hide from me! Ty Lee told me your dress is beautiful and I already have ideas for your hair!"

Mai sighed and reached out to hold Toph's hand. Toph's entire face was pinched in defiance.

"Five more minutes, Katara?" She called out. "Please?"

For a moment it seemed like Katara was pondering it, then she called out – "Suki?"

"Yeah?"

"If you wouldn't mind?"

"What does she mean?" Toph said, immediately turning to Suki, who calmly finished her breakfast. She stood up, stretched, picked up her bag of shit, and then handed it to Mai.

"What are you doing?" Toph's voice had gone far beyond fear and into panic.

"Sorry, girl," Suki said. Then she scooped Toph up into her arms and proceeded to carry her to the room.

"WHAT THE FUCK? **WHAT THE FUCK? **SUKI, PUT ME THE FUCK DOWN, OR I SWEAR BY ALL MY ANCESTORS, I WILL CUT OUT YOUR INNARDS AND DEEP FRY THEM AND EAT THEM WITH CIABATTA BREAD – "

Mai calmly picked up two bags of her stuff. She saluted us, and then followed them into the wing of the house that was suddenly all theirs. Toph continued to scream for a few more minutes, but maybe they sedated her or something, cause then the screams fell silent and all we could hear was the song of loud Britney Spears.

"I need my shaving stuff!" Sokka bellowed. After a moment, Katara's hand stuck out of the bathroom and dropped a plastic bag. Sokka went up to retrieve it and found all of our razors, deodorants, shampoos, body washes and colognes from the bathroom.

"Guess we're on our own," he said.

We thought for a moment.

"Mario Kart?" I offered.

"_Hell_ yeah," Zuko said.

So our Prom day was spent pretty much playing Mario Kart, which essentially involved me and Zuko kicking Sokka's ass repeatedly. Grandpa made lunch, but we were still not allowed to go in the girls' area, so he brought it to them. The music from their end of the house continued strong and steady – Spice Girls, TLC, Britney, even the Sailor Moon theme song thrown in there. There was a terrifying moment when a piercing shriek from Toph tore through the house, followed by Mai bellowing,

"_Suck it up_!"

Toph descended into whimpers. We all looked at each other, shrugged at our communal confusion, and continued playing.

I think we had all pretty much forgotten we were actually getting ready for something until we had another yell from Katara.

"Time to get dressed, boys!"

The three of us cocked our heads. Okay, well that sounded better. No one was crying. They'd moved on to playing N*Sync.

"Are you not a crazy bitch anymore?" Sokka dared.

"I will be unless all three of you look perfect!"

Zuko looked at his phone. "It's, like, five. The limo's not coming till seven. We have time."

"No you don't!" Katara yelled. "We have pictures! And you have to do your tuxes!"

The three of us groaned. Why did I look forward to this again?

But then Grandpa appeared. He held a giant bag of candy and grinned. "Come on, boys. I can tie a fantastic bow tie."

So with Appa barking at our heels, we made our way down to Grandpa's part of the house. He put on old-school jazz, and it somehow relaxed all of us. We showered, one by one, and then Grandpa taught us how to tie our bow ties. I reached for the blue one that Katara had picked out, but he stayed me with a hand.

"I have a special tie for you," he said with a secretive smile. He went to the dresser drawer and pulled out a simple tie – black with a thick blue arrow, pointing downward. All of us had fallen silent. I reached out to hold the tie and felt the soft, light fabric.

I looked up at Grandpa, confused, and he smiled and said, "I don't know if you would remember or not, since you probably never went into the high sanctuary. But try to remember."

I took a deep breath and thought back to the temples, to the tall, airy halls filled with statues of previous leaders of the Air District, all of them so serene, looking down on me as if filling me with inner strength. I remembered walking with my parents past the high sanctuary, my mother whispering that I'd get married in there, the tall door with all of its complicated tubing, but tracing through the white marble, the only color in that room –

The blue arrow.

"The arrow tattoo," I finally said. "Given to only the bravest, truest, most humble leaders of our people."

Grandpa nodded. Zuko and Sokka stared reverently.

"Wait, but Grandpa, I haven't earned this arrow…it's only given after you've really displayed true courage, you have to earn it – "

"You have earned it, my child," he said, his gray eyes almost watering. "We are the last left. I earned my arrow for serving as the head of the Southern temple, years and years ago. Tattooing was long out of vogue by then, so I received a necklace. But you, Aang, have done more for our people than I ever could. You survived the genocide that tore your family away, and despite horrific odds, you came to a new city and built yourself a life and a family that I am so proud of. You have made the name of the Air District one that will be respected for generations, even if our people die with us. And even if you do not win Prom King tonight, I want you to know that I – as well as your mother, your father, and your culture – are so unspeakably _proud_ of you."

_Oh, God!_ I tried to hide the warm tears pushing at my eyes. But one peek upward showed me that Sokka and Zuko were making no such efforts, sniffling and crying and looking at me with such understanding eyes. I threw my arms around my grandfather, my only family member left, and allowed my tears to pool into his shirt.

"Thank you," I whispered. "Thank you so much."

"There is nothing to thank, my son," he murmured, holding me close. "You earned it."

I pulled back, wiped away my tears and held the beautiful tie in my hands. One last objection manifested itself.

"But Grandpa, Katara…she said she wanted me to wear that blue bow tie…what will she – "

"Aang, child," he said with a smile, "who do you think suggested this to me?"

Something warm and soft and beautiful rose up through my very veins. I looked at Grandpa in complete disbelief, but he merely gave his usual smile.

"I told you at the very first," he said, "that the special girls will be the ones who truly take the time to understand _you_. And I can tell you…that is one special girl you have."

I looked down at the tie, at all of the pain and tragedy and heartbreak that we'd all gone through…and all I could think of was how perfectly this tie matched Katara's eyes.

I could only nod in agreement. She really was special.

* * *

"I…think…we're…_done_."

"Really?" Suki said, turning around from her makeup. "So soon?"

"I don't know, what do you think?"

Suki got up from the ground and walked over. Even Mai, smoking out the window, had to look.

"Wow," she reluctantly admitted.

It had taken three curling irons (two of which died in battle), 56 bobby pins, ten hair ties, two bottles of hairspray and the combined efforts of Katara and Ty Lee, but Toph's hair finally looked Prom ready. Katara leaned against the mirror, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and admired her work like Picasso looking at a painting.

"How does it feel?"

"Uh…weird?"

"It looks amazing," Suki said, running her fingers over the smooth braid at the crown of her head. "It looks…holy _fuck_…"

"Ty Lee did the braids, that was all her," Katara said, plopping down on the bed. "Gotta give credit."

"Well, now you can start your hair, Kat," Toph said, standing up slowly, like she was afraid her hair was going to fall out if she moved too hard (in reality, an atomic bomb could not shake Toph's hair).

"Oh, I'm not doing anything too crazy with mine, just something simple. Did you need some help, Sukes?" She eyed Suki's battle with the flat iron.

"I mean, if you could just get the back – "

Katara beamed and jumped up. It was like she lived for this. Suki sighed and leaned back. "I don't really need too much, I just need it to lie flat for once in its damned life – "

"Don't worry girl, I got you."

Katara sent Mai a worried glance, and it took everything in Mai's power not to roll her eyes. Instead she offered a fake smile and continued to smoke out the window. She loved Grandpa too much to directly smoke in the house, but all this girl stuff was making her…let's just say, Katara's last attempt to do her hair had gone disastrously.

Mai liked her dress. It made her feel…like herself. Like she could actually survive this Prom, her very last one. The whole slinky affair was done in black stretchy velvet, which was tight at the bodice and showed off her milk-white skin. There was a bit of a train at the back, but only after a series of black lace cutouts showed off her flat stomach and white thighs. Black stilettos, hair done very simply down, her black fingerless gloves, and a swipe of red lipstick for some color.

Would have looked perfect with Zuko in red.

She swore and looked out the window, willing the tears to stay inside. _This is bullshit, Mai_. She was a tough bitch, had personally fucked up Azulon Kai's mansion, carried knives like they were candy, was currently living on her own and doing just fine, thank you very much, she did not need Zuko _fucking_ Agni to make her happy – _if your eyeliner runs Katara will skin you alive, do not cry do not cry do not cry –_

"Mai-Mai?"

She sighed, blinked the tears in, and turned her head. Ty Lee stood in front of her, giving a beautiful smile. Her pink dress actually didn't look terrible. Maybe Sakura had had some say, but the sparkles weren't too overwhelming. They formed the design of a star across her short, silky dress. Something Mai would never go for, but on Ty Lee it didn't look half-bad. And she'd picked something that was longer than her hair, which now that it was down and curled fell straight down to her butt in beautiful brown curls, a few chunks pulled back by her trademark braids. She was smiling at Mai with her sparkly lipgloss like this was about to be the best day of her life.

"What, Ty?"

Ty Lee sucked her lips in and looked up at Mai through her eyelashes. Why was she acting like this?

"Dude, what's up?"

Ty Lee's whole face blushed, and then she slowly extended the arms that she'd been holding behind her back. In each hand was a plastic case for a corsage – one pink and white with black ribbon, the other black and red with pink ribbon.

"Will you go to Prom with me?" Ty Lee whispered.

Mai actually dropped her cigarette. Suddenly Ty Lee was so shy, blushing and blinking and biting her lip, her toes turned inward. Katara poked Suki from across the room and pointed her towards the scene. Mai hardly even noticed. She swung her leg around and slowly hopped down to stand in front of Ty Lee.

"Ty…" she muttered, "what about Teo?"

"I called him last night," she said with a smile. "I told him that there was someone more important for me to go with, and that if he wouldn't mind I'd rain check him for next year. It actually worked out well, I think – he said he'd been thinking of asking Meng, so they're going together."

Mai slowly reached out and picked up the corsage for her. Two roses nestled close together, one dyed black and one red, on a bed of black lace and baby's breath. But a pink ribbon the exact color of Ty Lee's dress wove through the entire display. She looked over at Ty Lee's and found that hers was as sparkly and pink as could be expected, roses and lilies and tulips, but there was a black ribbon tied in a bow right at the top.

As was custom, she said the first thing that popped into her mind – "Are you a lesbian?"

Ty Lee cocked her head. "Don't know. Are you?"

Mai stopped to think about it. "No one's ever asked me before…I guess I am not _not_ a lesbian, if that makes any sense."

"Well, we can figure that out later," Ty Lee said. "I don't care if you are or not. But I love you more than anyone in the world, and I couldn't be happier to have you as my date for your last Prom."

Behind them, Katara, Suki and Toph were openly emoting, Katara too swept up to bitch at Suki for ruining her eyeliner. Mai was on the verge herself. She looked at those honey-brown eyes, the eyes that she'd called vapid and stupid and empty for most of her life, and suddenly saw, all at once, love and devotion and loyalty and pride and joy and ambition. Because of a few flowers. When had she decided this? How had Ty Lee managed to keep this secret from her? What was everyone else going to think?

Oh, my God, _it didn't matter_.

And Mai's face openly crumbled as she threw her arms around Ty Lee's neck.

"Yes," she whispered, shedding tears in public for the first time in given memory, "Yes, Ty, I will go to Prom with you. I wouldn't want to go with anyone else."

It was too much for the other girls. Katara and Suki openly broke down sobbing, and even Toph looked about to cry. Ty Lee grinned and hugged her back so tight, planting a big kiss on her cheek. And then Katara couldn't keep it in anymore, and she ran forward to slam into their hug, messing up all the work she'd done on their hair, and then Suki and Toph ran forward too, and the five of them were crying and laughing and Ty Lee held the flowers up so they wouldn't crush them, and Mai closed her eyes and felt _happy_, all the way through, right into the cold part of her heart, the part that normally hated all of this girly stuff but was now, suddenly, leaning into this wonderful hug.

For the first time, in a very long time, Mai was truly, truly happy. And it was all because one day at their father's party a ballerina princess with floor-length brown hair had walked up to the shy, black-haired girl to say hello.

* * *

Tears were shed. Hair was coiffed. We'd eaten our weight in cheese cubes and Skittles trying to stave off starvation until we were fed actual food. The three of us felt so strange, sitting in the living room watching TV wearing our tuxes, especially since we couldn't snuggle with Appa and Momo like we usually did for fear of fur. There was a slight moment of panic when Grandpa realized that Sokka was wearing white socks, so we all made fun of him as he sped off to borrow some of Grandpa's. He just made it back into the room when Katara's hesitant voice called out –

"Okay…I think we're ready."

Well, the limo was going to be here in fifteen minutes, so that was good. But I felt my heart pounding up. I hadn't seen my girlfriend all day. "Picture time?"

"Yeah, pictures and corsages…you got the camera, Grandpa?"

"Yes, my dear!" We found ourselves standing up. It felt like we were awaiting the arrival of royalty. Why were my hands sweating so much?

"Me first, me first!" Ty Lee yelled.

"But Teo's not here," Zuko said.

"Not important!" She chirped. For the first time all day the door opened, and Ty Lee walked out, beaming – hand in hand with a _smiling_ Mai. They had matching corsages.

For a moment, we all just stared in surprise. But then suddenly I started smiling, and it felt like my hands were involuntarily clapping.

"Yay!" Sokka said. Zuko beamed at the girls, and Mai actually met his smile. You could never have picked two more different girls. Ty Lee's dress was short and pink, accentuated with a large sparkly star spreading across her dress. The most shocking thing was probably her hair – I think this was the first time that I'd seen her hair just down. Obviously it was long – that was a given – but it was also soft and shiny, falling perfectly in curls down her body. Mai's hair was down too, adding another level of drama to her vampy femme fatale dress, all slinky and lacy, showing off a toned body that none of us had really noticed before. She smiled at us with her red lipstick as a corsage with a pink ribbon rested perfectly on her black gloves.

For a moment we all turned to Grandpa, wondering what he would think of this, but this was my Grandpa we were talking about. "Girls! You look absolutely _perfect_! Oh, my word, best couple of the night. Absolutely no question."

"Oh, Grandpa…" Ty Lee said with a silly grin. The blush on Mai's face was beyond uncharacteristic. It was nigh apocalyptic. Seeing her face with color felt like a religious experience for all of us.

"Now come close girls, time for a picture."

Without even waiting for anything, Ty Lee stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss right on Mai's cheek. We all whooped, and Mai actually smiled and put her arm around Ty Lee's waist. Frankly, whatever was going to happen tonight really didn't even matter after seeing this. Mai was fucking _smiling_.

"I really don't know why you guys didn't do this before," Sokka said.

"I don't think we'd gotten that far," Mai replied, giving Ty Lee's waist a slight squeeze.

"What's Azula going to think?" Zuko asked.

The two girls looked at each other, and then Ty Lee replied,

"I think she would be really, really happy."

Zuko just stood there, looking at the two girls with this blissful smile on his face. Mai gave him a demure smile, some sort of recognition passing between them before another voice came out from the bedroom.

"Okay, can I come out now?"

It was Suki. Zuko straightened up.

"Come on out!" Grandpa called.

The clack of heels came down the hall, and Suki burst into our vision with a saucy grin. Zuko grinned hugely. Her dress was pure Suki – deep, forest green with straps of gold chains criss-crossing around her back and then coming over to cinch in at her waist. The dress skimmed the floor and had a slit going straight up to thigh, giving off a whole lot of gorgeous, glowing leg. Her face felt so familiar, giving Zuko a smile with her usual black eyeliner. Zuko straightened out his tie and brought out the pale gold corsage.

We all cooed as Zuko placed the corsage around her wrist, Suki smiling adorably and somehow managing to hold in her temper. She pinned the boutonnière with shaky fingers, which prompted Zuko to ask,

"What's wrong?"

She frowned and said, "Kyoshi Warriors aren't really supposed to take dates to dances…you know, female empowerment and all that shit."

Zuko's face fell a bit, but Suki put one finger under his chin and looked up at him with a smile.

"I'm going to tell you what banks told me - go ahead switch the style up, and if they hate then let 'em hate and watch the money pile up."

There was a pause.

"Did you just quote 50 Cent at me on Prom day?" Zuko asked.

"I got 99 Problems and feminism ain't one."

"Uh…"

"Straight outta Capitol City, a crazy motherfucker named Zuko."

"I'm from the Fire District."

"I love it when you call me Big Mama."

"Are you done?"

"I think so," she admitted.

"Best start to a Prom ever," Zuko declared.

Meanwhile, a fierce debate was taking place behind the Iron Curtain.

"You have to go out there."

"I don't want to go out yet, they should see you first – "

"No, they have to see me last, it's better for dramatic effect. Come on, Toph, he's gonna _love_ it!"

"I don't even know what I look like, how do I know you didn't fuck up my hair or my makeup, I could look like a hooker for all I know, I literally don't know anything – "

"Only one way to find out!"

With an '_oof'_ and a push, Toph stumbled into our midst.

Most of us pretty much stopped breathing. Sokka may even have had a heart attack.

She had _nothing_ to worry about. Whatever had happened behind that door – whatever voodoo magic Katara had done, whatever animals they'd sacrificed – it had worked. Toph was _gorgeous_.

She straightened up, her face bright red, and nervously pushed her hair into place, resigned to the fact that she had to do this. Everything about her was transformed. The dress, soft and flowing in a pale green, hugged tight to her curves and then fell down in soft pleats to the floor, where it somehow managed to not overwhelm her tiny body. The bodice had off-the-shoulder straps in cream, exposing her fantastically white shoulders. Her hair…I didn't understand it, but her bangs had been pulled into a thick braid that ran over the crown of her head, wrapping around to a big messy braided bun, with enough hair left over to fall in big curls over her chest. She wore a black stone armband and her shining eyes searched vainly for Sokka through thick, mascara'd eyes. His eyes were fixed on her soft, pink lips.

She exhaled and said, "Katara, they're doing the same thing you did in the dressing room…I'm not really – "

"You look amazing," Sokka said, walking forward to hold her hands. "Oh, my God…I've never seen you like this! You look like a girl!"

It finally provoked a smile. It was _so fucking weird_ to actually see her face, which was normally obscured by her outrageously thick bangs. Thank God the silver nose ring was still there. "Not so fast, Socks."

She felt down and picked up her skirt, exposing her black Doc Martens. "It was the one condition under which I agreed to wear this dress."

Sokka sighed and shook his head. Suddenly her face tightened, her eyes widening in panic, and she said, 'Oh, dude, I'm…is it not girly enough? I, like, actually tried – "

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he said, leaning down and kissing her. Oh, God, that little blush. "Want me to tell you what the corsage looks like?"

"Yes please," she murmured. He smiled and put it in her hand, letting her feel the flowers. "There's a big white carnation in the center, with lots of green leaves around it and some little white flowers. And one little blue flower hidden."

She smiled as he slipped it over her tiny wrist. "Next time, I'll suck up my issues and wear blue to match you, okay?"

"Don't worry, hun. This is a good green here. And the off-white shirt wasn't too hard to find."

"Told you!" Katara yelled.

"Can I see you yet?" All these beautiful girls prancing out and going to all my other guy friends was making me antsy.

"One second, I just have a few touch-ups…"

"She's lying," Toph said. "She's been ready for an hour. She's just freaking out."

"Toph Beifong, I will _cut_ you."

"Baby, why are you nervous?" I called.

"I don't…I'm gonna have to be on that stage again, I just kinda…"

"I'll be right next to you, I promise. Win or lose, I'll be there. And you'll look beautiful in anything you wear."

We heard her take a deep breath. The whole house was in crazy anticipation, even the girls, who theoretically had seen Katara in her dress earlier today. Was this big reveal going to be _that good_?

High heels clicked down the hallway. I held my breath.

Katara slowly stepped out.

My smile started somewhere around my mouth and soon spread to my cheeks, my heart, my stomach, my bones, my blood.

_Yes_!

Everything about it was perfect. There should've been a better word to describe it. Perfect didn't cover it. You're probably reading this and being like, 'Psh, Aang's just all caught up in his biddie', but you know what, you can think whatever you want, because in my eyes, Katara was fucking _perfect_.

The dress was somehow all Katara. Obviously it was blue, but some sort of deep, lush blue in a soft texture, not terribly shiny. It hugged her curves all the way down to her knees, and then the skirt flared away to pool in a soft little train at her feet. There was a light blue swirl, almost like the one on her necklace, that started at the bottom of the skirt and wrapped around her hips and up to the bodice, ending with a light sprinkling of sparkles, just enough to pull the dress together. Her mother's necklace stayed tight around her neck. She hadn't actually done anything with her hair, just let it go in its natural waves with one side falling over her face, adding mystery with her one blue eye and thick red lips. I could see the way she shifted in the dress, wanting to put her hair behind her ear, but here she was, standing in front of me, looking like the real woman we'd all been waiting for.

I couldn't even. I just walked up and kissed her. When we pulled away as everyone ooed, she looked at me and giggled.

"You've got lipstick."

I licked my lips, then decided against it and said, "Whatever. I'll wear it like a badge of honor."

She looked up at me through those thick locks. God, I just wanted to be with her forever.

"Corsage, Aang? Or you could just stare at me all day?"

"Oh, right, shit." I fumbled over to the coffee table as Sokka started sniggering and picked up the box. Katara nodded approvingly at the big blue dahlias that lined my corsage and boutonnière.

"How does she look?" Toph asked, as I slid the corsage on Katara's wrist and Grandpa clicked away with pictures.

"Absolutely perfect," I replied. For some reason, Toph's face also spread into a grin. I looked inquisitively at Katara, who smiled and said,

"Tophie helped me pick out the dress."

"It's _her_, isn't it?" Toph said.

"Who knew you cared so much?" Sokka asked, wrapping one arm around her shoulder.

Toph wrinkled her nose and said, "Well, these bitches all took so much time to make me look good, I kinda figured return the favor, you know? Couldn't really do much…but I knew that was the dress from the start."

Katara reached up to pin the boutonnière on and her eyes found the arrow tie. She gave another smile and ran her fingers along it.

"How did you know about the significance of the arrow?"

Her quick fingers reached my neck, and she adjusted my slightly crooked tie knot. "When we started dating, I did a lot of research on the Air Nomads…I wanted to make sure that I understood your culture. I checked with Grandpa, but I thought that if anybody deserved an arrow, it was you."

She placed her hands on my chest and looked up at me.

"I love you," I said.

"I love you too, sweetheart."

Everyone oohed and aahed and Grandpa took more pictures.

"This is almost sickeningly cute," Sokka muttered.

"I feel like punching a wall to regain my manliness," Zuko said.

"I'm hungry," Toph stated.

"Okay, well then do group pictures, I'm sure the limo's outside," Grandpa said.

We all crowded together with me in the middle, and everyone put their arms around each other. Ty Lee pulled a reluctant Mai down, and they did a sorority squat in the center. Sokka tossed one arm around Toph, who stuck out her tongue and held up a 'rock-on' sign, and tossed the other around me. Zuko had my other shoulder, his other hand firmly planted on Suki's waist as she held her leg up and gave her sexy grin. Best of all, Katara snuggled right into the crook of my upraised arms, wrapped her arms around my chest, and gave a big, beaming, toothy smile right at the camera.

I could tell it was going to come out so different from the formal photo we'd taken at Homecoming…but as we all broke apart and the girls giggled and got their purses together and Grandpa stroked Appa, looking so completely happy, I definitely knew that this one was going on my mantle, right next to that last one.

A car pulled up outside the house, and Grandpa said, "That'll be the limo!" And hurried off to go talk to him. All of the girls started tittering and the boys adjusted their bow ties nervously, but I said,

"Okay, no, real quick, before we actually go do this – "

Everyone looked at me.

"Okay, huddle, real quick."

Somehow, miraculously, nobody protested, and we all formed a big circle, hands circling around.

"Look guys," I said, looking around at all the faces, "however this night ends, I just want to say that I am so grateful for everything that we've been through. And this is Mai and Suki and Sokka's last one, so let's make it good, okay?"

"And win Prom King!" Ty Lee yelled.

"For Yue!" Sokka added.

Zuko threw his hand down, and we all put ours on top.

"On three," I said. "one – two – three – "

"FOR YUE!" We all trumpeted, tossing our hands up and screaming.

"Let's kick some _ass_!" Toph bellowed.

* * *

It had taken us far longer than we realized to get out of house (_cough_ Katara _cough_), so we were already late getting into the limo. Once we were there, I think the limo driver took a little longer to get us around, since we all pretty much went crazy when we found the sun roof. We blasted music and took turns sticking our heads out and screaming. Katara yelled at everyone for a while because of the wind messing up everyone's hair, but eventually she stuck her own head out, threw her hands up, and screamed along to the Kesha that was blasting. Even Mai smiled and tapped her own foot along with her song, her fingers intertwined with Ty Lee's. She hadn't needed to smoke all night.

As we cruised up to the Prom site – a swanky country club out by the Earth people – we noticed a huge number of people crowding around the entrance.

"They must not have opened the doors yet," Katara said, as she adjusted her hair and jewelry.

But the doors were open, I saw. And there seemed to be some sort of walkway, lined with students.

"Guys," I realized. "It's us. They're waiting for us."

With a gasp, we all turned around to look at the windows. Every face in the crowd was turned to our limo, and we could hear the low mutters of voices even through the car.

"Why are they doing that?" Suki said.

"We're making history," Zuko replied. "They've never seen anyone beat Ozai before. They want to see us."

The car suddenly became tense. I looked at Katara, with her wide eyes. It felt like a red carpet out there. We all took a deep breath, savoring our last moments of calm.

Then Zuko held out his hand for Suki, who smoothed down her hair before putting one sexy leg out of the limo and stepping out. All of the students actually stared and whispered, but the two of them fucking owned it, with Suki doing her best America's Next Top Model down the walkway.

"So what's happening?" Toph said.

"Everyone's waiting for us to get out of the limo. You ready?" Sokka said.

"Hell yeah!"

She gripped her cane, opened the door, and promptly face-planted onto the ground.

Everyone gasped, and Sokka whispered, "Oh fuck!" He scrambled out to pick her up, but she had hauled herself up by her cane, huffing and pushing her hair out of her face.

We all froze, waiting for the inevitable swearing and angry rant. But instead, Toph pushed her hair back, gave a gracious smile, and took a deep bow.

"The Blind Bitch!" Sokka ad-libbed.

Everyone cheered loudly, and Toph beamed and reached out for Sokka. They sashayed up to the foyer, both of them strutting together, Toph's Doc Martens poking out from under her dress when she walked.

They made it into the foyer, and I said,

"Guys, we can go first, I know this is kinda new for you – "

"It's okay," Mai said. We all turned to her, but she only had eyes for Ty Lee. "I'm kind of over giving a fuck, how about you?"

"No fucks given," Ty Lee chirped.

And in the most badass moment of the night, Mai threw open the door and burst out of it, hand-in-hand with a giddy Ty Lee. The whole crowd gasped, but Mai pulled Ty Lee closer and the two of them walked right up (though Ty Lee pretty much skipped). She passed a whole contingent of her Fire District friends towards the end. Katara held her breath, but apparently Mai _really_ gave no fucks, because she kissed Ty Lee full on the lips and then said in a dead-pan voice,

"Deal with it."

Everyone seemed too scared to move. Up in the foyer, we saw Zuko fist-bump Suki with a triumphant expression. Mai just grabbed Ty Lee and pulled her up to the foyer.

"That lady is my hero," Katara said.

I could only nod in agreement. But suddenly it was our turn. Even the limo guy had turned his head around to look. Katara met my eyes with a beaming smile.

I took her hand and we stepped out together.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting. Probably more silence, like our friends. Definitely the guys staring at Katara, I saw that coming a mile away. She stood out like a beam of light in that crowd.

I didn't expect everyone to start clapping.

Katara looked at me with wide eyes as the rumble of clapping built up. I winked at her and escorted her through the crowd of students. Everyone kind of fell in line behind us, and then Katara and I were at the head of a crowd of clapping followers. I turned around and punched my hand in the air like John Bender at the end of the _Breakfast Club_, and the whole crowd started screaming.

"I'd say this is a good start, wouldn't you?" Katara said.

* * *

Whoever had actually arranged this Prom had done an amazing job. This swanky country club was the height of luxury. Katara, Sokka, Suki and I stuck together, staring and whispering at the art and weird vases (with nothing in them – why do rich people do that? You can't afford a couple of flowers to put in the vase?) and generally throwing shade at the guards who were judging us. Toph, Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee followed, utterly bored with this display of wealth.

"Where's the food?" Toph muttered.

"Probably in the actual ballroom," Katara replied.

"Oh, I don't want to go in there yet, look at all this pretty shit!" Suki whispered.

"Guys, we have to go in there and dance," I said.

"And start the endless schmoozing? Whoop-de-fucking-do," Mai said.

"There's no schmoozing, we're just gonna dance and if they vote for me that's fantastic and if they don't I am too tired to give a fuck," I said.

"Atta boy, Aang!"

We all whipped around and gasped.

Jet and Smellerbee stood before us in the hallway.

There was a moment as we all stared at each other, entirely unsure if we were friends or not. Jet had actually put on a dress shirt and slacks, but his dirty boots stayed. Smellerbee...her dress was loose and black and she had on a pair of Chucks, but we'd all finally found her boobs. Katara smiled like somebody had saved this poor girl from fashion hell, but she was still giving us the same glare.

Finally Sokka broke the silence. "Didn't want to go in yet?"

"Nope," Jet said with a smile. "Not the biggest dancer."

Smellerbee nodded.

"So what happened to your guys who got arrested?" I asked.

"The charges were just trumped up, everybody got out," Jet replied. "Made it here in time to vote for you."

"Really?"

"I told you I would," he grinned. "I'm not about to break a promise. Seeing Ozai go down is going to be the sweetest graduation present I could ask for."

He turned to Smellerbee and said, "Come outside and smoke for a bit with me?"

"You have to dance with me at least once," she said fiercely.

I turned to Katara with my eyes raised. All of us suddenly realized that the black flower on Smellerbee's wrist was, in fact, a corsage.

Jet rolled his eyes. "Dude – "

"You asked me, you have to dance with me." Jeez, her face was so fierce. I could practically hear Toph's respect levels rising.

Jet opened his mouth to protest, but she glared at him out of her big dark eyes. Finally he sighed and grabbed her hand. "Alright, girl."

He turned to us with a smile. "See y'all later?"

"For sure," I said, still reeling from this exchange. "Thanks so much, Jet…uh…"

She turned around and gave me a withering glare.

"What's your name?" I finally asked.

She snorted and gave me a smile, the first I'd seen. "Sam."

"Sam?"

She nodded.

"Thanks, Sam."

She saluted us, held tight to Jet's hand, and then turned around and walked out towards the doors. The eight of us kinda stood for a second.

"_Sam_?" Sokka said.

"That was awesome," Katara said.

"We really should hang out with them more," Zuko said.

"I feel like he's much less of an asshole now that he's actually with Smell – Sam," Sokka said. "No more rape worries."

"I wonder how everyone else dressed up tonight," Suki said.

"That means we have to go inside," I said.

Mai's fingers started twitching, like she wanted a cigarette.

"We're together," I said. "We got a table. We'll be fine. It's Prom, not a battle."

Mai finally smiled, and we turned around and headed into the main ballroom.

Inside, several hundred students milled about in a room decorated with plenty of round tables with silky white tablecloths. The theme this year was 'One Last Dance', which not only didn't make any sense but was fairly ominous, and as we walked to our table I really couldn't understand why they'd picked a stupid theme like that after a girl _died_ at Homecoming. Sokka clearly agreed.

"Yue thinks this theme is stupid," he announced when we reached our seat.

"You can talk to her?" Suki asked.

"Yes I can. I am the medium for Yue Misong on this earth, and she thinks this Prom is stupid."

"I mean, I'm not denying that, but if she were here I think she'd be all into the dresses and shit," Toph said.

"She is here!" And Sokka stuck a hand out to Katara, who smiled and pulled out from her purse the framed picture of all of us at Homecoming that normally hung in Sokka's room. He slammed it down on the table and said proudly,

"Everyone, say hi, Yue."

"Hi, Yue," we all chorused.

"How do I look?" Katara asked.

"She says not as good as her," Sokka replied. Toph slapped him.

"She also says you deserved that," Suki said.

"I know," he said, hanging his head.

"Where's the food?" Toph whined.

"You had _two whole meatball subs_," Katara said. "I had to use Pam to get you into your dress."

"Which I very much appreciate, but I'm a growing girl and I require large amounts of food at pre-set intervals of the day."

"Clearly not growing _upwards_," Sokka said.

Second smack to the arm.

"I'm just gonna stop talking," he muttered.

"Oh, _guyyyyyyysssssss_!"

We all turned around to see Meng come running towards us, all smiles and giggles and sparkles in a sequined dress (purple, thank God). Teo rolled along after her with another big smile.

"Oh _Meng_, how adorable!" Katara oozed, as the girls went around and gave hugs.

"You look great, bro," I said, giving Teo a manly bro hug.

"So do you, man! Ready to win Prom King?" he asked.

"I mean, that would be great, but like, I'm not really sure what's going to happen."

Teo rolled his eyes behind the glasses. "Such modesty, Mr. Nomad."

"I know, he's totally going to win, right?" Ty Lee said, peeking around. "Hi, Teo!"

"Hi, Ty!" He said, all smiles. "Is Sokka your date?"

"Oh, no, she is!" She turned around and grabbed Mai. "I think you've met Mai, right?"

"Hey," Mai said, her eyes scanning his face for a reaction.

There was a moment where Teo stared and blinked for a moment, taking in the corsage on each other's wrists. Then he gave another big smile and said,

"You two look great together!"

All of the tension in Mai's shoulders relaxed and she looked at Teo gratefully. Ty Lee bent down and kissed him on the cheek, her whole face beaming.

All of the chatter in the room had suddenly gone silent. I straightened up and turned to the entrance of the room.

Ozai and Azula had finally arrived.

The entire room became off-kilter because of them, like the straight lines that had kept everything in place had been moved. Ozai looked terrifying as usual, his full facial hair and well-cut black tuxedo showing off all of the power that radiated from him. He had one hand around Azula's waist like a vice.

But she wasn't having it. Sure, she walked beside him and their corsages matched perfectly, but she held her head high and didn't look once at him. She had dressed _down_ – a simple red jersey dress you would find at H&M and black wedges. Her hair actually had some curl to it, flowing natural and even frizzy down her back. Her only makeup was a thick black cat-eye and her usual red lipstick.

"She was right," Mai muttered. "You can't miss her."

It was so subtle, but wearing that simple outfit that looked like she was going to the mall, she was suddenly in control. Ozai was pissed. Ozai kept shooting her glances, clearly not understanding why she didn't dress up to his level. Her hand was firmly clasped in his, but it could not be more obvious that she wanted nothing to do with him.

When she caught sight of our group, standing baffled by our table, she gave us a beautiful smile.

"Fuck me gently with a chainsaw," Suki whispered.

Everyone in the room stood mesmerized. But she led him to her table, sat down, adjusted her skirt, and began to look around expectantly for food, all the while with a strange smile.

Apparently it was the signal they needed, because the MC asked us all to take our seats as food was to be served promptly. Toph moaned in happiness and we all settled down at our table. The girls passed the time before the food arrived by taking selfies, and eventually all of us did another round of Never Have I Ever, which was greatly enhanced by the fact that all of us seemed to have sexually progressed since last time. (Toph and Sokka did fuck in that hotel room. We all knew it, but hearing it out loud was a little disturbing. They high-fived.)

At one point, Haru rolled over to our table with a big smile and a big moustache. With him was a pretty Earth girl wearing a soft green dress and two thick braids down her front.

"Hey, guys! How's the Prom treating you? You all look great."

Oh, my God, did Haru have to be so damned nice? "Not too bad yourself, my friend," I replied. "Who's this?"

"I'm Jin," she said with a smile. "Haru told me all about how you're trying to take down Ozai! I've been an Earth District refugee for years, I am so on board with this plan."

"So you're going to vote for me tonight?" A warm feeling was rising in my heart at the thought that this girl that I'd _never even met_ was going to vote for me.

"Sure am," she beamed. "And then you get to be here next year to crown the next Prom king!"

"Hun, we better get to our seats," Haru said, gently taking her hand.

"Okay," she beamed. "See you guys later!" Haru and Katara locked eyes for a second and smiled before Haru headed back to his table.

I looked at Katara on my right. She leaned her head on her hand and reached out for the dinner rolls they'd just placed down.

"Everything just feels so right, don't you think?"

I nodded with a smile.

The food couldn't arrive quick enough for Toph and Sokka. They downed the salad, downed the soup, and still had room to steal some of everybody's grilled chicken when it finally came. There were no vegetarian options, of course (commies), but everyone gave me their salad and green beans and after the cheesecake dessert I finally felt full enough. Katara abandoned her goal of not eating to fit into her dress and eventually stole and ate Zuko's cheesecake too, her face happy and glowing.

The idea of dancing was the farthest from all of our minds when we sat in our respective food comas around the table. Mai and Ty Lee sat with their hands clasped and didn't say anything, but Ty Lee was prone to random giggles. Toph and Sokka poked each other continuously. Katara yawned and laid her head on my shoulder. The soft orchestra music made my eyelids droop too. Zuko and Suki played a never-ending tournament of 'rock paper scissors', with the eventual loser buying the condoms for that night.

Which made Katara's deep, even breathing on my chest feel somehow so much more sensual than it should.

What were we going to do after Prom? Theoretically Toph and Sokka would take her room, Zuko and Suki would take his room, who the hell knew what was going on with Mai Lee (such a catchy couples name, don't you think? Not like Kataang, it sounded so stupid, I hated it when people called us that). Which meant, theoretically, Katara and I would have my room all to ourselves.

Oh, God, panic attack just thinking about it.

Finally the MC cleared his throat on the microphone.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen – "

We all dragged ourselves up to listen.

"This is an announcement that the voting table will be opened shortly."

Everyone's heads swiveled to me. _Real_ panic attack.

"The voting will remain open until 9:30, at which point the votes will be tallied. You may vote at any point during the night. After the voting table has been set up, we will begin the dancing."

Students started cheering. Our table looked at each other.

"It's go time," Suki said.

"We gotta go out and vote now," I said. "So they know we're not afraid."

Katara nodded, excitement building in her eyes. She grabbed my hand and all eight of us stood up. Ozai gave me a terrible glare, but he was pretty much the only one.

As Katara and I led the walk towards the voting room – slowly being joined by people across the dining room – another fear gripped my heart. What if he killed someone else tonight? Was it going to be Sokka or Katara lying underneath an SUV?

"Kat – " I murmured.

"I know, sweetie," she said. "I know. But there's no backing out now. Besides," she jerked her head back to the crowds of people following us, "he can't kill _all_ of us, can he?"

"I haven't been this cool since I stole that tsungi horn," I said.

"Why the hell _did_ you steal the tsungi horn?"

"Appa and I were bored and wandering around one night, and the other street kids we found dared me to steal it. Appa and I pulled some Sokka shit, jumped the fences and found back passages into the music room. Grandpa was less than thrilled, especially when the cops found us. Come to think of it, I don't know why those other kids didn't get in trouble, they were the ones who dared me to do it…"

"Are you hearing this, Sokka?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah," he replied. "And I have never been more proud, trust me."

The voting room was fairly anticlimactic. Apparently the ballet box had gone missing, and all of the teachers were scrambling to find something to put the votes in as well as set up the table, so we all pretty much just stood around and tried to hold in how bad we had to pee.

But the crowds shifted, and we finally saw _her_ make her way towards us with the scowl that we knew so well.

"I need to speak with Mai and Ty Lee," Azula said.

* * *

Mai knew it was coming. Ty Lee still looked surprised. She really thought they could pull this without facing the wrath of Azula? Ty Lee just seemed heartbroken that her prediction of Azula being really happy was clearly false.

Mai just sighed and pulled her forward. Aang and Katara reached out, trying to offer some comfort, but she just shook her head and pulled Ty Lee up. The room's attention had shifted from the ballot box to the three Fire District girls. Azula met Mai's eyes and turned around towards one of the back hallways. Mai followed, hand in hand with Ty Lee.

When they finally reached some quiet away from the crowds of people, Mai prepared herself for the verbal onslaught that was coming. It wasn't anything she hadn't heard before – from her dad, her mom, her powerful uncles, Ozai, Zhao, Azula, even Azula's father.

'Your personal happiness is interfering with the Fire District's mission. And so it must be disregarded.'

Ty Lee had heard the spiel her whole life too, but for some reason Mai thought she was going to take this worse than the others. She clung to Mai's hand as Azula led them back to a few low benches, where she sat down and looked expectantly up at them.

After a few moments, Mai said, "What?"

"Well, sit down, dipshit."

_Okay_…Mai and Ty Lee sat down on the bench next to Azula. She had her ankles crossed, her black wedges stretching out. The silence stretched out as well, as nobody knew what to say. Azula had her arms tightly crossed over her chest, her entire aura bottled up. Ty Lee leaned into Mai, who marveled that they'd known each other since they were babies, and the conversation came down to this.

"So, how long has this been going on?" Azula said softly.

Mai swallowed. "Just now, actually. Ty Lee asked me this morning."

"You did?" She asked, poking her head around. Ty Lee's head emerged from behind Mai, like a child behind her mother's skirts, and nodded.

"Was this why you defended her at the party after Homecoming?"

"No, I defended her there because you were being a cunt and she did nothing wrong."

Azula actually laughed, a short little laugh. "Touché."

This wasn't how Mai's big coming-out was supposed to be (if this was a coming-out, she still wasn't sure). She envisioned it the way she left her parents' house, filled with screaming and throwing things and her taking a stand like an old-school warrior princess. She didn't imagine it would be here in this stiff silence, sitting on a bench with her two oldest friends and her toes pointed inward, everyone's eyes locked on the ground.

"Do you love her?" Azula asked.

Thank God at least this answer was easy. "Yes."

Ty Lee snuggled in closely and nodded her agreement.

Azula sighed and let her head hang, bangs falling in her eyes. Mai saw the way her muscles were shaking.

"I love you too, Azula," she said before she could stop herself.

Azula turned to her, with her porcelain face so lined and sad.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She muttered. "You thought I would hate you for it? I don't _care_, guys. All the better, actually. Has our friendship really disintegrated to the point where you're not going to tell me stuff like this?"

"Zula, we didn't know ourselves," Ty Lee said, speaking up for the first time. "I just got the idea a few days ago. It's not some big secret we've been hiding from you."

Azula rolled her head back until it was resting on the marble. "I mean, I'm going back to the District next year, and I'm cutting off pretty much all contact besides you two and Zuko. I mean, I'm happy to go back, I can be closer to Mom that way, but I just don't want to lose you two as well. I don't _give_ a fuck if you're gay or not. I just want us to stay…together. The three of us. I don't trust anyone else anymore, it hurts too much. Just you two."

Oh, my God, so much raw emotion. Mai had never known what to do. This princess of the Fire District sat with her shaking shoulders and eyes closed tight trying to hold in her tears. What was she supposed to do?

Thank God for Ty Lee. She immediately jumped up and flopped right into Azula's lap. As Azula looked up with her wide eyes, Ty Lee pulled her in to a tight, snuggly hug.

"We're always gonna love you, Zula!" She whispered. "Always always always. Forever and ever and ever! No matter where you go!"

Mai found the strength to speak. "Maybe once Ty finishes high school we'll head back to the District too. Then maybe the three of us can do something about the corrupt government."

"The three of us together can save the world!" Ty Lee said, thrusting her fist in the air.

Mai and Azula locked eyes and silently communicated that no way in hell was Ty Lee ever going to have a place in government, unless they wanted complete anarchy and an institutionalized worship of My Little Pony.

Mai shrugged with a smile. Azula mirrored her. Of course Ty Lee was an idiot. But what would the two of them be without her?

"Sure baby," Azula said, rubbing her back. "We'll save the world."

Ty Lee snuggled up into Azula's shoulder, her whole face in a beautifully contented smile.

"Now get the _fuck_ off, you're wrinkling my dress."

* * *

The three Fire District girls reemerged right before they opened the voting booth. The rest of us had been standing in a paralyzed circle, wondering what fresh hell Azula had put them through. But the three of them walked out from their little Chamber of Secrets looking fairly normal. Mai and Ty Lee were hand in hand and Azula by their side, her arms crossed, looking fairly calm. Everybody stared as they walked in, but they continued unaffected towards us like the royalty they were.

When they finally reached us, I realized just how fucking tall Azula actually was. She was almost taller than Sokka.

"What are you staring at?" She snapped.

"Sorry ma'am!" I burst out without thinking. She rolled her eyes and leaned against a column with her arms crossed. There were a few minutes of awkwardness – how was I _not_ supposed to stare at her? – but then Mr. Jeong stood up and said, "We're now open for voting!"

Everyone looked to me. For some reason, my eyes darted to Azula.

Without saying a word, she nodded to me.

Well, doesn't get much clearer than that, does it?

My heart suddenly light in my chest, I walked right up to the table. Mr. Piandao smiled at me and handed me a ballot.

"Please write the name of who you think would be most suited for this position:

Prom King:

Prom Queen:"

I grabbed a pen and signed 'Aang Nomad – Katara Hatori'.

I folded the paper and gave it back to Mr. Piandao. He smiled at me and slipped it into the Kleenex box they were using as a ballot box (Four Nations High, y'all).

Then I turned back and flashed a thumbs-up to the crowd.

Even Mai smiled.

After that it went quickly, as one person after another came up and voted. All of the worry about running for Prom King that had haunted me after all these months was fading as one after another, people smiled at me after voting. How had I come from being a homeless refugee to one of the most popular kids in my high school?

Toph came up with Sokka on her arm. "Because I am blind, I will say my vote to you."

"I'm sure you could just whisper it to somebody – "

"Aang Nomad," she said, her voice ricocheting through the halls, "and Katara Hatori. Got it?"

Mr. Piandao scribbled it down on the ballot and then dropped it into the box. "Got it, Miss Beifong."

She gave her crooked grin and turned around to all of us waiting.

"That's how it's done," she said. "Come on, Sokka, I would like to do very dirty things to you on the dance floor."

She tapped her cane into the room, with Sokka following, giving us a huge thumbs-up. Katara rolled her eyes.

Finally the only ones left were Azula, Katara and I. The music was blasting our ears and I couldn't wait to get in there and dance. But Azula and Katara were having a silent communication. Katara seemed to be particularly adept at communicating without words.

Azula walked up in those mile-long legs, leaned over and wrote her answer. When she stood up, Katara and I stood looking up at her.

"Jesus, stop staring at me," she muttered. "Go in there and dance already. _God_."

I nodded my thanks, grabbed Katara's hand, and dragged her, stumbling in her high heels, into the darkened dance hall. Apparently Principal Pathik had done a better job with the decorating this time, cause there were soft Christmas lights strung up through the ceiling and lots of nice tables all around the corners with balloons and flowers and shit, but it really didn't matter because our friends were in there dancing, so we managed to find our table, shed my jacket and her purse, and then sprint into the crowd of people. We had to push our way through but right there in the middle, of course, was our group of friends, already sweaty and jumping up and down to 'Thrift Shop'.

"Walk into the club like – WHAT UP I GOT A BIG COCK!" Everyone bellowed in sync. I got clapped on the back by people I'd never seen before, but Katara laughed out loud and swung in front of me and started grinding like it was the best idea in the world.

"I'm gonna pop some tags, only got twenty dolla in my pocket, I'm hunting, looking for a comma – THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME!"

"I wear your Granddad's clothes – I look incredible – You know, this part is actually true," Sokka said, taking a moment out from grinding Toph to look at the suit that he had, in fact, borrowed from Grandpa.

"I can't believe you actually wore that!" Katara screamed.

"WHAT?" The music was so loud.

"Never mind!" Katara laughed, putting her hands on my head as her hips spun. The whole dance floor was just people in differing states of grinding – Suki and Zuko were doing it slow and sexy, Toph was surprisingly good considering she theoretically had never seen this done before, Meng was doing this adorable dance with Teo in his wheelchair, and Ty Lee was – dancing by herself, having a grand time.

"Where's Mai?" I bellowed to her.

"She doesn't like dancing," Ty Lee said with a sweet smile. "I'll do one dance in here, one time sitting with her!"

I couldn't see Mai through the crowd of people, but I put my head down in Katara's neck and just enjoyed the grinding. Sure, it was stupid, and I couldn't wait for actual dancing later, but her thick hair on my neck just felt so damn good.

We all took shit breaks throughout the first hour, the food finally working its way through our system and giving us new energy to get back out there and dance. People swerved in and out of our circle – the rest of Suki's Kyoshi Warriors, who seemed to have forgiven their leader dating a guy because he was _that hot_; Haru and Jin, who was such a sweet girl I really wished we'd known her earlier; Meng and Teo; Onji, who had escaped from her douchebag boyfriend and was now dancing with a really shy Fire District freshman. She gave me a quick kiss on the cheeks and told me how happy she was that she'd voted for me before running off. I turned to Katara and saw her giving me dragon eyes again.

"Baby," I said, "how could I ever leave you looking like this?"

She smiled and continued dancing.

Even we had our limits, though. After a round of 'Apache' dancing, some furious gangsta grinding to 'In da Club' and 'Smack That', the girls all going crazy during 'Drop it Low' (which was awesome, might I add – who knew they could do that? Probably the best part was when Toph miscalculated and fell over, then proceeded to smack us all with her gloves for laughing), and even some really embarrassing Justin Timberlake (SexyBack, anyone?), even Ty Lee and her inexhaustible stores of energy were ready for a break. So we escaped from the mob, sweat making my shirt stick to my chest and Suki's pin-straight hair frizz out. The men quickly shed our ties and the girls shed their heels, and we headed over to the snack table.

"Fuck yeah," Toph moaned, reaching out and feeling huge amounts of sugar cookies. She stuffed her face as the rest of us loaded up on punch. Ty Lee leaned against the wall and threw her sheet of sweaty hair off her chest.

"Oh my goodness," she said, "I don't remember sweating this much ever!"

"Clearly you haven't spent a night with me," Sokka said, immediately prompting a punch from Toph. "_Ow_ – sorry babe, love you, it's just a habit."

"Don't you be hitting on my girlfriend," Mai said in her deadpan voice, coming up from behind us. "I will cut your balls off."

"I need those," Toph said indignantly.

Ty Lee beamed at the word 'girlfriend' and reached up and kissed Mai. "You wanna come dance with us, hun?"

Mai curled her lip. "Would it make you happy?"

"Only if you're happy," Ty Lee beamed.

"God, they got this relationship shit _down_," Sokka said. "Toph, why did it take us this long to get here?"

"Excellent question, Watson. Probably cause you're an asshole and I'm a bitch."

"I'll take it."

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, it's our song!" Ty Lee said, grabbing Mai's hand.

"'Wannabe' is our song?" Mai observed. "I haven't listened to the Spice Girls since I was _born_, Ty."

"Wannabe is everybody's song, come on!" She squealed, as she dragged a reluctant Mai into the dance floor. Katara laughed and sank into a chair.

"I don't know, is all we're gonna do all night dance?" She asked.

"And make out," I added, to which she rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Gotta get your mind out of the gutter every once in a while."

But somehow that very phrase had put my mind firmly into the gutter. What the hell _were_ we going to do tonight when the lights went off and all was done? Oh, God, did I even _have_ a condom?

"Aang?"

"Dance?" I said without thinking. Everyone was staring.

"Sure – "

I grabbed her hand and we ran back into the crowd. She sighed and leaned into me, her hips swinging to the quick beat. "Aang…"

"Yeah?"

"I know what you were thinking about."

I started. "You do?"

"I was thinking about it too."

I couldn't see her face, so I grabbed her hips and spun her into me. She looked into my eyes, softly biting one lip.

"What were you thinking?" I asked.

She pressed into me and smirked when she felt my erection. "Well, I know what _you're_ thinking."

"Babe, I don't want to do anything you're not comfortable with. That's what's most important to me."

She exhaled. "I don't know. I really don't know."

"I mean, if it doesn't feel right, don't do it."

"It does feel right, I do want to, I want to be with you forever, but I don't know, we're so young, what if we regret it – "

"I'm never going to regret it," I said honestly. "If it's with you, I'm never going to regret it. Ever ever ever."

She looked up at me through her eyelashes. I tried to read the emotions in her expressive blue eyes but found them clouded and stormy. What was that hopeful heart of hers telling her to do.

"Aang…I think we should – "

"Alright guys, it's 9:45, and it's time to announce Prom King and Queen! Would all the nominees please head on up to the stage!"

The room descended into screams and gasps. Katara and I stared into each other's eyes, panicking together for one beautiful moment. I pulled her close and breathed in the smell of her hair.

"Ready?" I said.

She nodded.

We pulled apart and the whole group came up to us. There was already a path forming around Katara and I. My heart had left my chest and was pounding somewhere in my throat.

But the best part was when Azula wandered up, casually adjusting her dress. She held a hand out to Katara and said,

"Come on, babe, let's do this."

"Who are you and where the fuck is Azula?" Zuko whispered.

She winked at him and looked back at Katara, who looked stunned but placed her hand in Azula's as they, plus Mai and Ty Lee, headed up to the platform. It looked just like Homecoming when Yue led Katara up to the stage. But who would've thought it would be Azula taking the lead?

Everyone tittered and the lack of music was fairly creepy for me, but it was quickly drowned out by a plethora of quick and fierce hugs.

"You're gonna kick ass, broseph!" Sokka crowed, slapping me on the back.

"If you lose, I'll keep Ozai from killing you!" Suki said brightly as she hugged me. Oh, awesome, I was protected in case of assassination.

"You're gonna do great, sweetie!" Meng whispered.

"Good luck, my man," Haru said.

"Bathe in the blood of your enemies!" Toph yelled, punching the air.

"Love the enthusiasm," Zuko added with a smile.

"You ready, Zukes?" I said.

"Born ready."

The two of us, Ozai and the other random Fire District kid all made our way up to the stage. Ozai refused to look at us, which actually made it easier on me. We lined up, just like Homecoming, with the girls on the other side. Katara had gotten over her jitters and stood with her hands on her hips, beaming at the crowd. Azula smiled, for some unknown reason, and Mai and Ty Lee were hand in hand.

Oh, my God, this was it, eight months at this school and I looked out at all the faces in the crowd, at everyone who'd defended me and hurt me and seen me try to fight this cruel system. We'd already done most of the winning – look at everyone not afraid of Ozai anymore, look at _Azula_ reaching out a hand to Katara – but if I won, then Yue's death wouldn't have been in vain. _None_ of it would have been in vain.

Principal Pathik walked up to the microphone, looking adorable, this tiny skinny little man in a suit. Even Zuko smiled at him. He pulled the mic down and beamed at everyone.

"Hello everyone! Well, what an exciting year it's been! I would like to congratulate all of the nominees for having such a splendid year!"

There was a smattering of polite applause. I looked over and found Mai already totally over this and looking like she needed her cigarette. It made me giggle a bit through my freak-out.

"Alright, ladies first, shall we?" He pulled the pink envelope out and everyone held their breath.

I saw Katara clench her fists and thought about how important this was to her as well, that she'd been even more unpopular than me at the start and that maybe this could help her fragile self-esteem, so I put my head down and wished and wished –

"Drum roll, please!"

Everyone put her hands on their thighs and did a drumroll.

"Your Prom Queen is – "

Principal Pathik opened it oh-so-slowly, Katara and I both watched with one eye open –

"Katara Hatori!"

Everyone screamed, Zuko and I and all the girls included. Katara jumped up, almost tripped over her dress, but was caught by Ty Lee and Azula and hugged and kissed them and screamed, her face bright red. In the crowd I watched as Toph, Sokka and Suki pushed themselves to the front, generally losing their shit (I thought Toph was gonna pull out her boobs for a second there, but Sokka stopped her). Katara stepped out, her smile infectious as she looked at me, and then awkwardly received the shiny plastic tiara. But when she had it on, she looked fantastic, like the princess she was. Azula, Mai and Ty Lee held each others' hands and tried not to cry.

She blew a kiss to the crowd and screamed 'Thank you!' Principal Pathik hugged her and she stepped back into the line, tears lining her blue eyes. Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt. We were perfect.

I forgot that I still hadn't even won yet. But at that point, seeing Katara so happy, it really didn't matter.

"And now for the gentlemen…"

Everyone got quiet, and our three friends in the front all leaned in and held their hands. I stood up straight, shared a quick glance with Zuko, and closed my eyes.

"Drumroll please…"

The sound of hands slapping fabric filled the room.

"Your Prom King is…"

After so many months, after all of this…I knew. Don't ask me how, but I knew.

"AANG NOMAD!"

* * *

**Yaaaaay! Oh, my God, we finally did it! Yaay! I'm not dead, I promise, and I truly am sorry for the late update! Obviously this was a very long chapter, and also this past weekend was my 21st birthday and I am just barely getting over my apocalyptic hangover. This is not the end of the story, I promise - next chapter is the rest of Prom and what happens behind closed doors, and then we've still got graduation :) Thank you all so much for all the love, it really helped me write this fucking long chapter haha.**

**PS: Random note, in case you were curious: I'm actually a fairly strong Tyzula shipper IRL (who knew?) It didn't feel right for this story, but the Mai Lee was probably my favorite part of this chapter :) The rest of the random ships in this are not necessarily ones that I support, but I think they all played out pretty well in this context, don't you? This will also be (as of right now) the last of these disturbingly long chapters, both because they're exhausting to write and I think they're hard to read. So if you've been sticking with me, I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU! Now give me a birthday present and let me know what you thought ;) All my sweet Prom lovin - PVB**

**PPS: If you're curious about this story/how I came up with it/what else I write, one of my favorite fans, Fruipit, did an interview of me and LPK on the Avatar Wiki site! The interview can be found if you go to the Avatar wikia and then put this afterwards: /User_blog:Minnichi/The_White_Lotus_Sentinel:_ Issue_17,_4_May**


	32. One For All (Prom Part Two)

**Alright kids, this is it - LPK is finally rated M. You know what that means...**

**Chapter Thirty-Two: One for All (Prom Part 2)**

* * *

The roar probably could be heard a mile away. I couldn't think for the screaming. As I looked out at the room of screaming students, I wondered (a little egotistically) if I'd gotten the vote of _everyone_ in the school.

Of course, Ozai's glare told me otherwise, but fuck that. I walked up and accepted the plastic, faux fur-lined crown from Principal Pathik. Next to me, Katara couldn't stop crying as she wiped mascara tears off her cheeks, and the Fire District girls, united again, grinned and cheered with everyone else. Faces swam in and out of my teary eyes, but I swallowed it back and punched my fist in the air. The room roared its approval, with Toph, Sokka and Suki going apeshit in the front row. I reached out my hand for Katara, my queen, and the crowd parted to give us room to dance.

For the sake of classiness we probably should have waited, but Katara gave no fucks. She jumped me as soon as we got down from the stage, and we made out in front of the whole school. People cheered as I planted my hands on her waist, her fingers all over my neck and face. Of course it was Toph and Sokka who first started making gagging noises. But finally Katara pulled away and gave me that beaming smile, just in time for them to start the music.

"Just a small town girl…living in a lonely world – "

"Really?" I said out loud. "This song? Aren't we all sick of it?"

"Shut up, it's tradition," Katara said, putting her hands on my shoulders. I rolled my eyes and held her hips as we started to sway to the song. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw all of our friends, Meng and Haru and Teo and Onji and Zuko who'd come down from the stage with the girls, and I looked at Katara and just grinned.

"We did it," I whispered.

"I know," she said, her whole face blushed. Blue eyes sparkled in the Christmas lights. "I'm so proud of you."

"I couldn't have done it without you," I replied honestly.

She giggled. "This all started when you stared at me on that first day of school."

"You were the prettiest girl I'd ever seen," I said. "You still are."

She blushed, her fingers running over my neck, and then made bedroom eyes at me.

Oh, my good _Lord_ –

"DON'T STOP – BELIEVINNNN!" The yells of everybody actually managed to distract me from Katara's bedroom eyes. "STREETLIGHT – PEOPLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Katara rolled her eyes as she sang along, and finally I had no choice but to sing along too. In my mind I couldn't help thinking how stupid these lyrics were (the entire chorus was five words), but it felt weirdly good to be singing in unison with all these people from the four different nations. Felt like what I was missing from the Air District.

I might've been more philosophic, but the song finally ended, Katara smacked me with a quick kiss, and they pulled me into the throng.

Hugs and kisses and slaps on the back resounded, as everyone took turns congratulating me and people I'd never met told me how inspiring I was to them. I got passed around like a basketball, only stopping to breathe briefly after getting the wind knocked out of me by a very exuberant hug from Smellerbee – I mean, Sam. Finally, wheezing and exhausted, I made my way out of the crowd to the back table, where I found the only people I really wanted to see – my gang, sitting around the table and grinning.

"Sup?" I said, by way of an introduction.

"Sup, Prom King," Sokka said.

Every single one of them just seemed so perfectly happy. Zuko and Suki stood holding hands, leaning up against each other. Azula was on Zuko's other side, all the tension and fear gone from her gorgeous face. Mai smiled a smile to match Ty Lee's, who was of course, jumping up and down in her seat. Sokka shook his head like he couldn't believe how I'd turned out, and Toph had her skirts hiked up to knees, exposing her black boots that matched her proud, mischievous smile. And of course Katara, with the crown nestled in her hair, chin resting in her hand, just smiling.

But then 'Single Ladies' came on.

All of the girls simultaneously screamed and ran out onto the dance floor. I stood by with the guys as they all created a gigantic clusterfuck on the dance floor, all of them somehow breaking out into synchronized dance moves.

"What – "

"It's a girl thing," Sokka replied.

"Cause if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it!" The girls screamed. "If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it! Don't be mad once you see that he want it!"

The sassiness was palpable. Even Mai and Toph got into it – Mai did a subdued version of the back and forth hands, and Toph actually kind of knew the steps, which was weird. Katara, Suki and Azula were getting _really_ into it.

"You realize this song applies to literally _none_ of you, right?" Sokka yelled into the throng.

"It applies to me," Azula said, as she continued to do the Single Ladies dance like she hadn't spent the last six months trying to kill us. The girls cheered her on and continued dancing. They finally managed to pull me in to dance on the next song, that catchy Selena Gomez number (I always love a song with 'Na na na's), and from there the night gelled into a perfect vision of grinding, swaying, kissing and screaming with a whole crowd of my classmates. Ty Lee refused to let Mai sit back down after she'd gotten her up for Single Ladies, and the two did their own version of dances for every song that came on, which mainly involved Ty Lee literally dancing in circles around Mai like she was Bubbles on _Powerpuff Girls_. I would have been more baffled by their relationship, but somehow Sokka and Toph were even weirder.

"Cause baby you a song, you make me want to roll my windows down and cruise," he sang in her ear as they swayed.

"Come on Socks, you know I hate country!" She laughed.

"Yeah when I first saw that bikini top on her, she's popping right out of the south Georgia water, I thought 'Oh Good Lord! She got them little white legs' – "

"Fuck you!" She laughed, turning around to face him with her crazy grin. He planted a kiss on her.

"Cause this brand-new Chevy with a lift kit, would look a hell of a lot better with you in it!"

"You don't even have a Chevy!" She said. "You are lying about everything in this song!"

"Not lying about you being a song that I love to play," he said with a grin. "Plus we used to listen to country all the time in the District."

"Aww, sweetie. Can I come visit you this summer?"

"Sure can! You can stay with us and go ice-sledding and learn how to swim."

"Have you decided about college yet?"

"The letter from Capitol College should be coming in tomorrow, so we'll see."

Her eyebrows narrowed. "If you don't get in or they don't give you enough money, I could move to the Water District and go to high school there so we don't have to be apart."

His eyes widened. "Oh, Tophie…" he said, pulling her head in to his chest as they swayed.

Katara and I stood to the side watching this exchange, each of us holding punch with our hips lightly touching.

"Did you see this coming?" I asked her.

"I've had a hunch," she said, watching them with a smile. "Neither of them are exactly good at hiding their feelings."

"Mama Katara knows everything," I said, pulling her close. She put her head on my chest.

"Mama Katara is still figuring it out," she replied. "Like what I'm going to do when we're separated for the summer too."

"Ugh, don't talk about it. I'll come visit you."

"I'll visit you, I just don't really – it's all just so…_uh_…"

"Sweetie, shh. We just won Prom! What are you so worried about?"

"Oh, you know, everything…I'm always worried with my dad and the war…and if Azula's gonna figure her life out, and if they're ever gonna reconcile with their father…and if Sokka's gonna be okay at college without me, and if Toph's gonna reconcile with _her_ parents and ever let people help her – "

"Jesus, Kat, it's okay! You have to give yourself a break."

She exhaled against my chest as she pushed her thick hair behind her ear. "I know, I know. I just want everything to be okay."

"Everything is okay," I said. She peeked up at me and saw me smiling. We pecked on the lips and continued watching the sweating, pulsing, strobe-lit crowd.

"Everything is okay," she repeated.

"Of course, baby. Oh, look, they finally got Mai dancing, she's not half – "

"_AANG_!"

I whipped around to see Toph turning her panicked eyes towards me, looking terrified at something in my direction. I turned around and suddenly felt a hand gripping my head and another pressing something sharp against my neck –

Katara shrieked. Ozai's body pressed up against mine, the knife pushed closer into my throat. All the music stopped and everyone froze.

"Good evening," Ozai's slick voice said. My heart pounded somewhere in my throat. "Is everyone having a good Prom?"

"Let him go, Ozai," Sokka said, his voice carrying. Toph hiked up her dress and Mai had her knives out. I tried to stay calm, but my eyes kept jumping to the terrified faces, from Katara who was trying to hold her tears in to Zuko whose face had pinched in to Meng, whose petrified, tearful face was filled with a certain kind of fear, like she'd seen this monster before.

_Oh, God, was I going to be another Yue?_

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice a little higher than usual.

"I would have liked to win Prom King, of course," he said. "We're all so vain, aren't we? But since that did not come to pass, we're going to have to make do. Katara, my love, would you come over here?"

"Fuck no," Katara said, her dress bunched up in her fists.

"Ah, of course, there's the spirit that got you there. But let's make this a little clearer, okay?"

He dug the knife into my neck, and as much as I tried not to scream through the biting pain, the blood leaking out was enough. All of the girls gasped and screamed, and Katara edged forward, her entire body on edge.

"Closer."

She kept coming, filled with equal parts fear and determination.

"A little closer…"

She took a few more steps forward as we all held our breath. In one swift motion, he released me, pulled Katara in, and now pressed the knife to her throat.

"_Fuck_!" I screamed, running back forward, but Ozai dug the knife into her as well, and she whimpered.

"We're gonna get out of here, don't worry," Ozai said, his eyes so cool. "Just hold your horses. If it makes you feel better, you're not the only one with a life on the line. It was made very clear that without Prom King, I would die. Perhaps not literally, but certainly in every other respect. So we're just gonna settle. You, me, and Katara are going to head to my house. If you cooperate, I'll let the girl go. Won't guarantee that my father will let her leave alive. And you…" He smiled and wiped a finger along the blood on Katara's neck. "We'll just see."

Oh God…oh my _fucking_ God…oh my fucking fucking _fucking_ God – Sokka had to be physically restrained by Zuko and Haru. Meng and Jin kept crying quietly, and Azula looked –

Not scared. She looked calm. She was holding hands with Mai, who was holding hands with Ty Lee. All of their faces were blank. The fuck?

"So let's get moving, Aang," he said, starting to walk to the door. Katara followed, her eyes darting along the crowd. I saw Ty Lee move forward to hold hands with Sokka, who did nothing but blink and reach out to hold Toph's hand. Some of the fear faded from her eyes.

I walked slowly to the door, now also trying to figure out the secret code as my pounding heart almost prevented me from thinking. Zuko slowly followed, moving almost imperceptibly through the crowds. Katara had stopped openly panicking and was now trying to breathe as shallowly as she could against the knife. Someone had pressed what felt like a tie against my neck to stop the bleeding, but I held it up absentmindedly as I followed them. The gym was so eerily silent.

"You're going to like my house," Ozai said calmly, as he kept walking sideways with Katara, who gathered up her skirts, revealing tall black stilettos. "I think you've been there before, when you fucked it up. My father would like to talk to you about that. Plus I think we've got some pictures of the raid we'd like you to see, Aang…you can look at all the charred lumps of flesh and tell us which ones you think are your parents…and then why not, we'll throw your grandpa in there too – "

Katara's head snapped up, locked eyes with Azula, who nodded.

She hiked her skirts up and slammed her heel right into Ozai's foot. He howled, but before he could even finish, _Suki_ popped up behind him and locked his arms within hers. Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Azula, everyone rushed forward at once, grabbed Katara, thoroughly incapacitated Ozai, and pulled all of us away. Mai walked forward, pulled out her knife, and pressed it against his windpipe.

It all happened in a matter of a few seconds. Katara tumbled into my arms, where the two of us almost sank to the floor. I had no idea how long Suki had been waiting back there, communicating with Azula, but after Sokka slammed his fist into Ozai's stomach and Zuko grabbed his other arm, by the time Mai got there half a second later, suddenly Ozai was just a wheezing second-place Prom King with a knife on his throat.

"Nobody threatens Grandpa," Katara managed to get out, tears streaming down her face.

I looked around to all the stunned faces, my chest still heaving, but Katara was against my chest and everyone was safe, oh thank _God_…

None of us could fully relax until the police arrived a few minutes later, still finding a completely tense gym as a few teenagers held another teenager at knife-point. They said some quick words to Principal Pathik, cuffed Ozai, who kept glaring at Azula and Zuko, and led them out of the room.

The sirens had long faded before any of us could think straight again. I just held Katara, whose breathing had slowly evened out. Suki was released from her post as the Ozai hold and walked out, stretching her shoulders. I held out my arm, inviting her into the hug. A distraught Sokka slammed into his sister and held her close, and Zuko pulled Azula in. Toph wiggled in beside me, and Mai looked downright emotional as she and Ty Lee piled on. Before I knew it, we'd formed a silent group hug, all of us breathing and thinking and just being. Just existing together as friends.

"Thanks, guys," I murmured.

Nobody answered. The hug got a little tighter though.

I closed my eyes and breathed.

I don't know how long this lasted before a small voice peeked up from my side.

"Yeah…Aang's getting blood on me…"

* * *

The Prom Night continued in theory, but all of us reacted to it differently. The music continued playing, and even though some of the scared freshmen and sophomores went home, the brave ones continued dancing. Zuko and Suki, after assuring that we were okay, decided to lead the charge for dancing. Mai got a long-deserved cigarette, as her, Azula and Ty Lee stood with us outside, listening to the bumping music. It didn't feel like her usual self-defeating cigarette, though. Her black eyes kept looking out on the still parking lot like she finally had something to be proud of.

"So after tonight, I'm gonna need a place to live," Azula said.

Mai nodded. "When are you moving to the District?"

"August, before school."

Mai nodded again and exhaled. "Whaddaya think, Ty?"

"I've got money," Azula said helpfully.

"Oh, well, that makes it easier," Mai said. "Think we could get an apartment, Ty?"

Her head bobbed up and down. She hadn't relinquished Katara's arm after the attempted murder (really? That term was now in use in my life? Oy vey.) "We can have sleepovers every night!"

Mai and Azula rolled their eyes as one.

"You guys suck," she pouted.

"I'll have sleepovers with you, hun," Katara said softly, patting her arm. She had kicked her shoes off. "I love sleepovers."

"Oh, thanks, Kat!" Ty Lee squealed, rubbing her face in Katara's arm. She laughed. "We can do hair and watch bad movies and talk about our sex lives – "

"No one without an MD should talk to you about your sex life," Mai said, pulling Ty Lee up by the collar. "Come on, honey, we can dance again, okay?"

She reluctantly let go of Katara's arm, but after I assured her that I was taking care of her, Ty Lee finally jumped up and followed the other girls into the dance. And then it was just the original four of us, sitting on the step in front of the gym. Sokka and I had undone our suit jackets and bow ties, and Toph and Katara had their shoes off. Toph hiked up her voluminous skirt and dug her toes into the soft grass and dirt.

We didn't speak. I don't know what we would have said. The moon shined bright above us and wind rolled around our ankles. Katara's dress pooled on the floor and the reflection made it look like the crest of a wave beneath the moon. There were so many questions going on – what was going to happen now, what was this going to change for the Fire District, what would happen to Ozai and Azula and Zuko, did we have enough booze for the afterparty – but me and Katara's crowns sat in the grass, shiny and plastic but very real, and that was kind of enough for now.

I thought we spent an eternity out there, but in reality it was probably very little time, especially since Principal Pathik wisely decided to cut the Prom short so we could all go home and deal with what happened. We finally heard his microphoned voice –

"Alright students, one last dance! This one was put in as a request a few hours ago, and I was assured it was appropriate, so here – "

Some synth came through for a few seconds, as we all cocked our heads, and then suddenly the guitar riff that defined our generation. We all jumped up screaming and ran back into the room just in time for the first words.

"All the – small things!" Everyone screamed as we slammed into the quickly-forming moshpit. "True care, truth brings! I'll take – one lift – your ride – best trip!"

Somebody put me and Katara's crowns on and pushed us right into the middle of the moshpit, where Katara gave her high-pitched ecstasy scream and I jumped up and down with all the sweaty bodies. God, I _loved_ this song!

"Always – I know – you'll be – at my show!" I grabbed Katara and kissed her right on the lips. "Watching – waiting – commiserating – "

"SAY IT AIN'T SO, I WILL NOT GO," the whole gym screamed, "TURN THE LIGHTS OUT, CARRY ME HOME!"

Seriously, everybody knew this song, from Azula doing a really good headbang to Meng who had let her hair out of its bun to adorable-looking Jin, who was _really_ going crazy. It hit me that this was kind of what I was all about, on a microcosmic scale – everyone in the school dancing together. This was as good a start as any right?

"Late night – come home – "

"WORK SUCKS!" Toph bellowed, to people's laughter, as I kinda began thinking who had requested the song in the first place.

"I know – she left me roses by the stairs – surprises let me know she cares – "

So many people were hugging me that I didn't exactly know what was going on, but all of us together, in communion like that…we were leading to the buildup of the final refrain, people buzzed their lips and Zuko and Toph were mimicking the guitar chords, and I said out loud,

"Okay, guys, real loud on this last one, let's make 'em hear it all the way around the Nation!"

People screamed their approval and then kind of built up their voices, all of us jumping around on the rolling drum part, and then all came in on that last, epic refrain that didn't really make too much sense but whatever –

"Say it ain't so, I will not go, turn the lights off, carry me home! Keep your head still, I'll be your thrill, the night will go on, my little windmill!"

Katara came in with great harmony on the 'na na na's, and then we all repeated, screaming as loud as we could,

"Say it ain't so, I will not go, turn the lights off, carry me home! Keep your head still, I'll be your thrill – the night will go on, THE NIGHT WILL GO ON, MY LITTLE WINDMILL!"

I remain to this day completely positive that our screaming was heard all the way back home in the Air District. And that Mom and Dad loved it.

* * *

As much as I loved the screaming and partying, it was nice to finally escape. We all headed to the school after-party, jumped in a bouncy castle and pretty much participated in their attempt to get us to not drink after prom.

Of course, after that we went back to my house and drank. Grandfather stayed up just long enough to talk to us, and he gasped and freaked out when he heard about our win and subsequent assassination attempt. But he smiled, gave us all a hug, told us to not leave the house, and then went to bed, trusting us to make good decisions.

We started off by blasting music and pulling out the liquor that Toph had bought long ago, but we were all a little sick of dancing. So then we just put on chill music and drank in the living room, everyone who we'd gone to Prom with plus Azula (that was certainly a shock to Grandfather).

"So what happened?" I finally asked, a little tipsy as Katara curled up in my elbow. "Toph, you like saw it or something – "

"Heard something weird," she responded, pulling on a beer bottle. Her dress was pulled up and her boots off, with her hair kinky from the braids falling over her shoulders. "There was something in the way he was moving, and then there was the sound of the knife. I didn't know who it was, but I knew something was weird. I just wish I could've helped you guys get him afterwards."

"Yeah, Suki, you were amazing," Katara said. "Were you back there the whole time?"

"I was just coming back from getting punch when I saw it happened," she replied, with that proud gangster smile. "Azula kinda made sure I kept ready for the right moment. Without Katara's initial distraction, I wouldn't have the opportunity I needed to take care of that sick fuck."

I locked eyes with Azula, who seemed so…human. With her heels kicked off, feet tucked up under her, drinking a beer with her makeup a little runny. She gave me a beautiful smile, hand in hand with her little brother.

"Thanks so much," I said.

"You're our King," Azula replied. "You gave us the freedom to be ourselves. We just needed to give that freedom back."

"The freedom not to die?" Mai asked.

"God_damn_ it, Mai, I'm trying to be sentimental here," Azula said. "Do you not see me having friends?"

Ty Lee burst out in snorting laughter, joined in by a reluctant Zuko. We all organically moved into hanging out, playing King's cup and Go Fish and watching reruns of the Jersey Shore. Everything felt so right, just all of snuggled up on that couch, perfectly tipsy. The concerns of the Prom were so far away, everything was perfect…nothing to figure out…

Then Katara stood up and held out her hand to me.

"What's up, baby?" I asked.

"I'd like to go to your bedroom," she said.

I froze.

The entire room shifted to look at us. Katara still stayed in that sexy, skintight dress, one hand on her hip. The other copper hand reached out to me, with her plump red lips looking at me through the curtain of her hair. Blood started rushing to my penis. Everyone stared. Oh, my God, I didn't think anyone was going to the bedrooms until later. I didn't look at Sokka – oh my God, no – but I sent a quick look to the other people on the couch. Suki had her eyebrows raised, Toph grinned wildly, and Azula's eyebrows were furrowed just the teensiest bit.

"Okay," I murmured.

Katara smiled, tiny and soft. I took her hand and got up off the couch. I looked back quickly to the couch as we headed to my bedroom, and it was a whole array of shock and excitement.

Oh, dear God.

We entered my room, and Katara locked the door with a click. She went around the room slowly turning off every light, moving silently and smoothly in that dark blue dress, until the only thing left was the shining moonlight that fell in shafts on my bed.

Then she walked up to me, looking up through her eyelashes. I put my hands on her hips and kissed her, with her lipstick sliding over my lips. Everything about this was different than before, the way she moved into me, the way her hands reached up and touched at my veins like she was checking my pulse. I adjusted to the darkness just like slipping under warm sheets. Everything felt right in there.

"Katara…" I whispered.

She paused and bit my lower lip.

"What do you want to do?"

"I'll tell you when to stop," she murmured. Her fingers reached up to my tie and to the matching bandages we each had at our necks.

"Life is a fragile thing, after all."

I looked right at her, at those eyes that sucked me in.

I reached behind her and found the zipper for her dress. She raised her hands up as I slid it down her back. The fabric dropped to the ground in a rustle, exposing a strapless black bra and low-slung black underwear with tiny bows. She cocked her ankle and smiled at me.

We fell onto the bed together as clothes came off, one by one. For the first time, she slung her fingers under her panties and shimmied them off, raising her hips off the bed as she slid them down and kicked them off with pointed toes. I kissed the soft skin around her stomach and her hips, kissing the hip bones that stuck out just barely, the insides of her thighs covered with a tiny layer of downy hair, and finally, with no idea what I was doing, I gently explored her soft, secret place.

"Oh…" she whispered.

The entire world had been lulled into this burgundy trance, this understanding that we only had one life to live. And just like I'd dreamt since that first day, it was just me and Katara in this big wide world. Every tree and blade of grass and pulsing atom lived for us, cheering us on.

Her hands pulled off my pants and boxers, with a smile creeping onto her face at the noises I made as she played with me. I swear the temperature in that room was ten thousand degrees. My heart beat so fast I thought it was going to give up and die.

She didn't talk, instead leaving red lipstick kisses over my entire body, her hands as soft as the wave on a beach when she touched me. Every breath out of her mouth hung suspended in the air like a prayer.

She shifted down onto the bed beneath me, a pillow resting under her head, her hair splashed around her.

"Katara…?"

"I haven't said stop, have it?"

I gulped and looked down at her.

"I don't have a…you know…"

Her face stayed shock still, and my heart stopped at what I perceived as anger spreading across her mouth. But then I realized it was a smile as she reached into her bra with two fingers and pulled out a thin, square, plastic package.

In the dim light, I read _Durex Extra Sensitive_.

I looked at her with a gaping mouth.

"_Katara_?"

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too," I replied.

"So what are you afraid of?" She said with a smile.

"I don't know," I said. "Getting this once and then never being able to do it again."

She sat up and kissed me, her hair falling like whispers over my chest. Her eyes were so happy. "Don't worry, hun. That's not gonna be a problem."

I finally smiled back and nodded.

She looked down and started getting the condom opened. Her hands shook a little, but she got finally got it open and then spent a moment trying to figure out which way it went. I would have laughed, but truthfully I had no idea either.

"I think it's this way…" she murmured, "cause then it'll unroll this way, you see?"

"No, it's the other way, like this." I flipped it out and she finally nodded.

"Okay, yeah, you're right. Here we go, hold on…"

She grabbed me, which made me gasp, and then slowly unrolled the condom, which made it feel like I was being covered in some kind of thin wet blanket. The look on my face made her giggle.

"I know, babe. But it's better than the alternative."

I nodded, suddenly unable to talk. All this was fun – the foreplay, the kissing, the condom-ing – but finally it hit me what I was expected to do.

She lay back down on the bed, adjusted herself on the pillow, and looked up at me expectantly.

Oh, _fuuuuuuuuck_.

I looked down at the…uh…vagina between her legs. Oh, God, oh God, it made no sense, where did I go? Where the hell did I put it? _What the actual fuck_?

"Try this one," Katara said, snapping me out of my reverie. She reached down and indicated a certain place. "That's where I put the tampons."

"Okay…uh…"

"It's okay, babe. I trust you."

She did, but did I trust myself to not completely mess this up?

With nothing else to do and her blue eyes egging me on, I slowly climbed on top of her and looked down into the great abyss. Well, here it goes –

"No, _fuck_, oh shit, wrong one."

"Oh God, sorry baby, sorry, how about – "

"AANG JESUS CHRIST, NO! NOT _THAT_ ONE!"

"Oh God, I'm so sorry, oh, God – "

"That's where the pee comes, Aang, Jesus fuck – "

"I'm sorry, I don't – "

"THIS one!"

And then suddenly we both stilled. Her mouth was in a perfect O, and I felt this beautiful, miraculous, oh my God, fuzzy kittens and puppies and fields full of daisies –

"_Ow_," she whispered, her eyes shut tight as she pulled her hand back.

"Katara?"

"Ow," she whimpered, her whole face crumpling. "Ow…owww…"

"Baby?"

"Oh, _Looooord_…oh, God – " Her voice hitched like she was about to cry.

I started panicking. "Katara, baby – "

I started pulling out but she grabbed my shoulders. "It's okay baby, just keep going, I'll be okay."

"Are you sure…you – "

"That's normal, it's okay." God, she looked like she was in so much pain. She gently eased me down onto the bed until we were close enough that our breathing chests touched. "It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay."

Her gentle voice lulled me into some false sense of security, and even though her face pretty much ripped apart the burgundy trance I had felt before, there was still something stirring in me that wanted to at least make a valiant attempt. So I started shifting around, trying to find some place that hurt less. After a couple of pitiful moans from Katara, finally she paused.

"I think that's good," she whispered.

"Okay," I whispered, my voice still ringing in the darkness. I started rocking my hips, knowing that this was something that I could do but still being terrified to do it, something that was innate to my being but was still as foreign and difficult as horseback riding – you knew with training you could do it, but that first time up was still scary as hell.

The awkwardness was palpable, but we were together so it was okay. There was a lot of adjusting and a lot of times I felt like we were starfish, suspended in water and not in control of our limbs, but a couple of times I think we really were in sync, both of us rocking together and Katara's hands pressed on my face and small noises escaping from her throat. Of course we'd get off sync again, but those moments where we were staring right at each other like seeing past all of the material clutter, like I was seeing through to the salty ocean water and blue blossoms and pearls and pure love that rushed through her veins. When she looked at me and smiled at my gray eyes, I could only hope she'd see something as good. Maybe rushing winds and beating hearts and the love of my people. I hope that's what she saw.

It ended about as anticlimactically as it started. I ran out of steam and the pain crept back onto her face, so I pulled out, which made both of us gasp at the weird suction feeling, and then I collapsed next to her on the bed. And then we just kind of breathed. Her skin was sticky with sweat where her shoulder brushed against mine.

I didn't know what to say. I was torn between wanting to scream to the world that I'd done it, and this awful, sneaky feeling that that wasn't what I expected. There was almost no romance, no passionate declarations of love. Just panting, and sweating, and Katara's tense face, and my awkwardness as I tried to find a good position. Was that it? I'd really waited my whole life for _that_?

Katara stretched out, which made her back crack, and then rose out of bed. She felt around for her panties and slid them back on, wincing only slightly. She felt around in the darkness for some paper towels, and once she'd found them she walked over to me. She pulled the sheets back and then deftly pulled the condom off (there was no cum to deal with, at least). She handed me my boxers and went to throw out the paper towel.

I was sitting up in bed when she came back, completely baffled by her actions, but she gently pushed me back down on the bed and snuggled right up into the crevice of my arm, her body curved to hug mine.

"I love you, my dear," she whispered with a smile. She reached up to kiss me on the lips and then cuddled up. Her breathing evened out, hair falling over the pillow.

And I finally smiled, letting all the awkwardness go.

"I love you too, darling."

I'd waited my whole life for _this_.

* * *

**OH MY GOD LPK SEX! Well, I wasn't sure what I was going to do after Prom, but it flowed pretty organically into this sex scene for me. I was going to censor it to keep it T, but I haven't censored anything in this story for you lovely people and we've dealt with some pretty heavy shit, so why would I insult your intelligence by not giving the best first-time sex scene I could write? If you're upset because it's not very sexy, if enough people want we could do a sexy one later, but unfortunately this is pretty much what happens your first time haha. It's even worse for some people (including yours truly), so there you have it. Facts of life.**

**I'm SO SO SORRY for not updating in forever, but I have a good excuse - I moved across the country and am now back in DC, but of course I have to move out of the old place and get set up in the new one and try to find a job and all of that adult shit that I normally avoid so well. Also my laptop broke, but I did write some of this on lined paper before I got it up again, so rest assured that I was always thinking of you guys and my story :) I love all of you to the moon and back, and I hope you enjoyed! Also I'm a little up in the air about what to do for these last few chapters, so if anyone has any ideas feel free to tell me :3 LURVE - PVB**


	33. The View from St James Street

**Chapter Thirty-Three: The View from St. James Street**

* * *

I think I expected to feel different.

I woke up years later in my squishy bed, with the sun streaming in and Momo crying at the door. Katara had fallen asleep in a weird position, one leg thrown over me with the rest of her body curved against the pillow, hair over her naked back with those little bear snores she had. I rolled over, groaning, and my morning wood pushed against the mattress.

Oh, yeah. I'd had sex last night.

Really? Didn't feel like it. I peeked under the sheets for the blood that I figured was supposed to be there, but either it didn't happen or it was all underneath Katara's body, so I couldn't tell. I dragged myself up, grabbed an old bathrobe, and went to open the door and let Momo in. I walked quickly and prepared to dart open the door so that I didn't hear anything from –

"_Aang_."

The harshest, most vicious whisper I'd ever heard. _Fuuuuuck_. Momo snuck in and wrapped himself around my legs. I went down to scratch him, taking a deep breath, and then walked outside to meet my judge, jury and executioner.

I'd never seen Sokka up this early in his life, but there he was on the couch drinking coffee. He glared at me in his bathrobe like he'd been waiting to destroy me his whole life.

I gulped.

"Good morning, Aang," he said, his voice like ice.

"Good morning," I mumbled.

"Sit down."

I immediately walked over and sat on the couch opposite him. The way he was looking at me, you would have thought I was on trial for stealing the Mona Lisa rather than just having sex. I put my hands in my lap and sat silently.

The worst part was that he knew what he was doing. He sipped his coffee and glared at me in silence until the tension between us threatened to explode like a volcano in the early morning light. I was more nervous for this little talk than I had been for sex last night, which is saying something because last night I thought I was going to _die_.

Finally, just when I couldn't take it anymore and was about to apologize on behalf of all my ancestors, Sokka finally spoke.

"So…did you have fun last night?"

What the hell kind of a question was that?

"Uh…yes, I had a great time. I won Prom King."

"Oh, I'm well aware," he said, stroking an imaginary beard on his chin. "But was that all the fun you had?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Maybe denial would work.

Before I could even register, I was smacked in the head by a fucking plastic cutting board, wielded by Suki, who had apparently been sitting in the wings this whole damn time, wearing a long bathrobe with mascara giving her raccoon eyes.

"What the fuck?" I gasped, rubbing my head as Suki lowered the fucking block of plastic. "Suki – "

"Answer the question, Aang." She was clearly enjoying this.

"Don't play dumb," Sokka snapped. "You know what you did last night."

"Where's Toph, why isn't she doing this?"

"She was asleep, I didn't want to incur her wrath. Suki was the only other person willing. What did you do last night after going back to your room?"

"_Nothing_ – "

SMACK.

"Okay, Jesus Christ, we had sex!" I howled through my throbbing head.

Sokka hung his head and rubbed his temples. I felt like there were going to be two comically sized goosebumps on my head the next day.

"How could you do that?" Sokka whispered. "How _could_ you?"

"Dude, she wanted it, I swear – "

"And so you acquiesced – " he skipped Suki and started smacking me with the newspaper, "to her teenage _fantasies_ –" SMACK – "and had – _sex_ with my baby sister – " SMACK – "while I was in the next – " SMACK – "_goddamn_ – " SMACK – " _ROOM_!" SMACK!

"She was the one who wanted to do it!" I cried, trying to shield myself as he proceeded to beat me with the newspaper from every possible angle.

"She's sixteen and she doesn't know what she wants! Sex is evil – and creepy – and weird – and dirty – and Katara is not allowed to do it with anyone, ever, EVER EVER EVER!" He smacked me right in the ear. "And you did it when all of us knew what you were going to do!"

"Oh yeah, like you weren't going to fuck Toph last night?"

He smacked me again. "Not relevant!"

"Toph is younger than Katara and you fucked _her_!"

"I'M NOT RELATED TO TOPH!" Sokka bellowed, smacking me again. I was getting welts. "TOPH'S OLDER BROTHER WAS NOT PRESENT IN THE HOUSE! BESIDES, ME AND TOPH'S FIRST TIME – "

His face suddenly dropped, as if remembering something. He turned to me with eyes so narrowed they were slits.

"Did you put Katara through…_pain_ last night?"

Oh God oh God oh God don't have any expression don't make any face movements don't even blink don't do anything don't breathe –

"YOU MONSTER!" He roared, snatching the cutting board from Suki and proceeding to hit me until I ran outside screaming. I tried to hide under bushes and the shed but he found me and followed me around, smacking me and screaming profanities.

"BALD LITTLE FUCKTARD – FUCKING TOUCHING MY FUCKING SISTER – GOING TO CUT YOUR DICK OFF UNTIL YOU CAN'T FUCK ANYONE EVER AGAIN - GOING TO DESTROY YOUR EVERY CHANCE AT HAPPINESS – "

"Sokka, be reasonable – ayyyy!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT WORD MEANS!"

"Sokka – "

"SHUT UP, SUKI! I WILL AVENGE MY BABY SISTER'S LOST VIRGINITY!" He started sobbing, and I had a chance to grab the newspaper from inside and launch a counterattack.

"I didn't give you this much shit after _you_ had sex, and I only found out after you cheated on her!" I yelled, smacking his arms and face. "I'm well within my rights to beat _your_ stupid ass!"

"DON'T BRING ME INTO THIS!" He shrieked, making a fresh charge towards me. I yelled and sprinted away. Newspapers were small defense against a cutting board. "YOU ARE NEVER ALLOWED TO TALK TO KATARA AGAIN!"

"Tough luck, dipshit, she's the one who wanted to sleep with _me_!"

"LIES!" He yelled, as the two of us tried to beat each other up with random household artifacts. My poor newspaper was getting shredded to pieces, but I kept trying to defend myself against Sokka's horrific cutting board. "Katara would never – "

"SHE DID!" I yelled, managing to smack him quickly in the groin, which still made him groan in pain even though it was with newspaper. "And you better fucking deal with it, asshole!"

"You little – "

Before I could fathom what was happening, he got me right in the stomach with the full force of his cutting board. I dropped like a stone, gasping for breath, as Sokka dragged himself up and raised the cutting board for a final blow – I covered my eyes -

"OOOF!"

I peeked up through my hands and found Sokka suddenly on the ground. Toph had punched him in the face.

"Shut up," she grunted.

For the first time that morning, there was quiet. Suki slowly took the cutting board away and Toph stood over Sokka in her green silk sleep pants and a tank top with no bra. Her nipples popped out in the morning air and her hair was a disheveled afro.

"Toph – " he muttered, getting to his feet.

"The fuck are you doing?" She snapped. "Are you beating up Aang for the same damn thing you did to me?"

"But Katara – "

"Is a grown ass woman who can have sex if he wants," Toph said, her hands on her hips. "It wasn't like us, babe. She wasn't drunk, there wasn't a lot of awkward sexual tension. You honestly can say that you didn't see this coming a mile away?"

Sokka curled his lip at her, but of course that didn't work on Toph.

"Kids have sex," she continued. "You had sex, and Katara was chill. Suki had sex, Zuko had sex, who the fuck knows what's going on with the lesbians but I assume they're having sex. You honestly think that there was anyone better to take her v-card than Aang?"

The stillness of the morning, coupled with Toph's unusually soft voice, both served to remind me that we'd been screaming bloody murder at nine in the morning on a Sunday. It was a miracle the cops hadn't been called yet.

Sokka exhaled a little, and I saw my chance.

"Sokka," I said, kneeling down beside him, "you know how I feel about Katara. You were one of the first ones to know. I really can't say how happy I am that you two are in my life, being my friends and helping me throughout this year. But being in love with Katara makes me even happier than all of that, if that's even possible. And I think if you asked her, she'd say the same thing."

Sokka stared up at me with tender eyes. It was so easy for us to get caught up in thinking about Katara's scars…but Sokka had gone through the same stuff. He'd known the death of a parent and the loss of the other, just like Katara. He kept his issues silent too, just in a different way, with different words. He'd had to cling to his sister to survive. We all knew Katara needed Sokka. But I think for the first time, we all saw how badly Sokka needed Katara.

So I finally said,

"She will _always_ be your baby sister. Always."

He continued to look at me before finally raising his hand. I smiled, pulled him to his feet, and gave him the tightest hug I could without being awkward.

"Dude, I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't know you'd freak out like this."

"It's okay," he said. "I'm the last person who should be bitching at people for following sexual desires. Just…"

He pulled back with his brows narrowed. "I know we're bros and roomies and all…but don't, like, ever talk about – "

"Oh shit, no," I said immediately. "Oh, God, no, you're her brother. No fucking way."

"Great," he said, his shoulders relaxing. "Nothing, ever. Like ever."

"Never ever."

"Okay, I can do that."

The door slid open, and a drowsy Zuko walked outside. For a moment he blinked in the sunshine before taking in the scene.

"Who beat Aang up?"

"Sokka," Suki replied, walking over to him.

"Why would Sokka beat – " His eyes widened. "_Ohhh_, yeah."

Suki rolled her eyes at him and gave him a quick morning kiss. Sokka, feeling left out of coupley stuff, walked over to Toph and put his arms around her shoulders.

"So…you punched me in the face."

"Yes. Sorry," she replied. "Had to do it. If it makes you feel better, you were excellent in bed last night."

"_Ha_," I snapped at Sokka, before his glare told me we couldn't completely joke about it yet. "Uh, how long did you guys stay up last night?"

"A while after you two went in," Suki replied. "Kinda messed around on the Wii and stuff. We all kind of went down at different times."

"Is the fighting done?" Grandpa asked, sticking his head out the porch door with a smile.

"Grandpa! You didn't defend me?" I called.

"I figured Sokka wouldn't terrorize you unless it was for a good cause," he said, bringing out the tea tray. "Who wants breakfast tea?"

We all settled down to drink in our PJs as Grandpa brought out more cups. Toph finally got over her animosity and scooched closer to Sokka. I let the tea warm my hands and thought about this last month of school. So many things were going to change, so quickly. Another year was gone, and what did we have to show for it?

"Mmmm…"

We all looked up to see Katara slouching out of the door, rubbing her eyes with her hair tumbling, tangled, down her shoulders. She'd thoughtfully changed into her regular sleep pants and shirt. Anybody who didn't know would have had no idea we'd slept together last night.

Of course, everybody knew. So it was moot.

But at the sight of her, something warm settled in my belly and made me so happy to see her bleary blue eyes. She trundled across the lawn and fell into the first person's arms she reached, which happened to be Toph.

"Easy, sweetness," she said, hauling her upright. "You don't sound capable of human interaction right now."

"Noises…" she grumbled. "Too many noises…what you people doing?"

"Not a thing, dear," I said. "Not a thing."

"Doling out vigilante justice – " Sokka started.

"Absolutely nothing," Zuko said, punching him on the shoulder.

Katara slowly sat up as Grandpa handed her a cup of tea and then sat down to join us. Appa and Momo rushed out from inside, as Appa went barking and caroling around the yard and Momo settled himself down at my feet. All of us, our messed up little family, just sat outside in silence, trying to figure it out, any of it. And simultaneously being okay with not knowing, somehow not panicking, because at least for this moment, we had each other.

"Wait – " Sokka said. "Where the fuck are Mai and Ty Lee?"

* * *

Not in the house, we discovered pretty quickly. They weren't in any of the bedrooms (obviously, they'd all been occupied), but we thought maybe they'd gone to Grandpa's study or his bathroom. But there was no sign of them, not even the scattered clothes that we'd come to expect from Ty Lee.

"Where did they say they'd go last night?"

"They were the last ones up," Zuko said. "We went down right before them. They said they'd stay on the couch."

"Well, they're not here," Katara said, upending the couch cushions like she'd find them hidden in the cracks like loose change. "Did they go back home?"

"No," Sokka said, looking out the window, "Mai's car is still here."

"Maybe Sakura picked them up?" Suki offered.

"Maybe, but why wouldn't Mai just drive them?" I said. "They didn't seem drunk at all."

"They must have just slept outside," Sokka concluded, and so we all trooped outside to look around. But not even Appa's keen nose could detect them anywhere. I even climbed up on the roof and looked around, but all I saw was a Sunday sunrise.

"Where the hell did they go?" I said out loud.

* * *

"Baby."

It seemed criminal to wake her up, but the sunshine had begun to remind her of the rest of the world outside of their little sanctuary.

"Hun."

Ty Lee squirmed and rolled into Mai's arms. She dropped a kiss on her forehead.

"Ty, the sun's rising."

"It is?" She pushed herself up, with her miles of hair covering Mai's lap, and blinked at the sunshine, breathing deeply. Above the trees that rolled over them, the soft gray of a sunrise peeked through the indigo sky.

"Oh, I love sunrises," Ty Lee said, stretching and yawning.

"Ugh, but orange is hideous."

"Mai-Mai…" Ty Lee said, turning to her with a confident smile, "what kind of attitude is that?"

She exhaled harshly. "Look, Ty, I don't know what you expect from me – "

"Hush," Ty Lee demanded, rolling back into her arms and pushing her down on the ground. Mai sighed but couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as the two girls looked up at the sunrise, at the streaks of pink that begun to spread through the sky like a dripping watercolor that Mai would make in art class. The street sign blended in so perfectly, dark as it was against the sky.

"They're going to wonder where we are," Mai said.

"Let them wonder," Ty Lee said, her voice filled with a maturity that Mai had never heard before. "They all have their relationships. We need to figure ours out."

Mai started stroking her hair, her mind far off in the clouds. Did she actually want to figure this out? Was this what she wanted? This relationship, so new and sudden, popping up out of nowhere and messing everything up. Everything that been thrown into turmoil when she was kicked out of her house and had to live on her own for the first time, everything that she so meticulously set back into place on the dresser of her life – her college plans, her job, her apartment – was suddenly shattered again by the whirling tornado of Ty Lee.

But goddamn, this was one sunrise.

They laid there for a while, not talking. It astonished Mai that Ty Lee was able to keep quiet. This was such a different side of her, lying on Mai's chest with one hand touching her nipple in a way that was casual and electrifying at the same time. Mai wasn't a sexual person, and she figured she'd pretty much gone into sexual hibernation after her whole whatever with Zuko came crashing down…

But somehow, Ty Lee had pulled her out of her cave.

All the other couples had gone off to fuck last night, finally leaving the two of them on the couch. Mai, with no idea whether she wanted to have sex or not, or what the dynamics of sex with Ty Lee would even entail, was pretty much planning to stay on the couch and sleep and deal with her life in the morning. But Ty Lee didn't do inaction. She dragged her to her feet, both of them wearing pajamas, and forced her into her ballet flats as they wandered outside. They left through the back gate and walked through the moonlit back alleys of Aang's quiet suburbia, Ty Lee's hand pulling her through underbrush and weeds and winding ivy. They stopped after a while, away from the rumble of the streets, when they came upon a street sign, rising up out of the plants back here – crooked, rusted, pointing in completely the wrong direction from any actual street in the neighborhood, spelling out in peeling letters 'St. James Street'.

They stared at it for a while. And once any rational options had been exhausted in Mai's mind – why would a random street sign be in the alley, still standing? Did there used to be a St. James street? – she let the artist in her go free. Perhaps this was the remnant of a past life, some kind of glitch in the Matrix. Maybe St. James used to be busiest street in the capital, maybe it didn't even used to be in the capital, but instead was from some futuristic dimension where street signs weren't even used anymore. Maybe St. James St didn't even exist to anyone else, but it was put there by a merciful God who wanted these two outcasts to have somewhere to call their own.

So they plopped down against the wooden wall, in front of the street sign, and they stayed there all night. And they kissed and took their clothes off and did things which Mai supposed were considered sex, but she didn't really understand. Ty Lee understood. Ty Lee knew _everything_. Ty Lee probably knew what St. James Street meant. But Mai liked the mystery.

And she wanted to freeze this in her mind – the quiet sunrise, Ty Lee's chest breathing against hers, the brush of the plants she had slept on, the look of the crooked, tired, defiant St. James sign existing out here all alone. She froze the moment, because if there was one thing that she was sure Ty Lee still didn't know, it was that they couldn't be disaffected teenagers forever.

"Are you afraid?" Ty Lee asked.

"You should narrow that down. I'm afraid of a lot of things."

"Being with me."

"Yeah," she said.

"Do you still want to do it?"

"I think so."

Ty Lee rolled her head and looked up, blinking her brown eyes at Mai. "What's holding you back?"

"Well you could have given me a _warning_," she said. "We've been best friends since we were five and I'm dying of heartbreak or whatever, and you come up with a corsage and eat me out and want to be with me forever, you could have _told_ me."

"I thought you knew I wanted to be with you."

"When you've got guys falling all over you and you're not exactly putting them off, it was hard to – "

"I meant live with you."

Mai snorted. "What choice did you have?"

Ty Lee sat up, leaning on one arm. "You thought I couldn't live without you."

Mai blinked, the words dying in her throat, caught up in her assumption by Ty Lee's gaze. She didn't seem angry. She just seemed…older.

"You thought I had to live with you or I wouldn't survive."

"Well, Sakura was going to kick you out – "

"I didn't need Sakura," she said. "We were living at Sakura's for you."

Mai struggled to sit up, leaves stuck in her still-hairsprayed hair. The warm tingly feeling that was left between her legs by Ty Lee's gentle tongue was slowly withering at her brown eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about? We got kicked out because Zuko went crazy and his dad told our parents, and we didn't have anywhere to go – "

"So Sakura took you in," Ty Lee said. "You think I needed her? I came because you needed me."

"Ty Lee," she said, tears of frustration building up, "what in the _fuck_ are you – "

"Listen, honey," Ty Lee replied, her voice calm. "I'll never be as booksmart or as streetsmart as you. I know that. But I grew up as the second youngest of six sisters. My parents didn't have time for me and my sisters all had other lives. I learned how to take care of myself. I cooked, I did my own laundry, I took the bus system, I learned how to run a house. Pretty soon I figured out that the easiest way to take care of myself was to let other people take care of me – like you, and sometimes Azula and Zuko. It wasn't a big deal back then, you guys all had your shit together, it wasn't a big deal to take care of me. I could be as ditzy and silly as I wanted, and finally I had people who loved me for who I was and didn't put me through pain. I had you, and you took care of me.

"But…I guess it was after you and Zuko kinda fell out or whatever, I noticed that you needed someone to take care of you for once. And you didn't…" she struggled for words. "Your parents were much harsher to you than they were to me. They cut you off completely. I still had my trust funds, the income that was left in there. And I'm still getting inheritance from various dead relatives."

Mai's breathing grew shallower as she took in Ty Lee's serious face.

"I was going to get my own apartment. I had the money. But I don't know, when you called me when your parents kicked you out and I could hear how scared you were…you needed me more than I needed you. So I called Sakura and asked if we could stay with her. You needed a little family, a place where you could take care of me and make yourself feel better. So…we moved in to Sakura's together."

God, she felt so defenseless. Wearing some old faded cotton pajama pants with yellow flowers on them, some remnant of her mother trying to buy her pretty stuff. The gray t-shirt she wore almost every night because it was soft and nearly see-through. This wasn't how she ever wanted to be seen, with her crazy hair and smudged makeup, sitting outside in an alley, getting her ass handed to her by her first lesbian hookup.

"Ty Lee."

Ty Lee rolled up her legs under her and waited for Mai to speak.

"I don't…you didn't need to move in with Sakura? It was just…you wanted me to feel better?"

She nodded.

"So why didn't we just get an apartment by ourselves, we didn't need to crash with her."

"You weren't ready for that," she said simply. "You needed to be with Sakura, in that tiny apartment. You needed to feel like you could take care of me. It was the only way you were going to know who you were."

What the _fuck_? What was she saying? Mai mashed the heels of her hands in her eyes. All these last months with Sakura, pretty much the calmer adult version of Ty Lee, giddy and snuggly and filled with glitter…was she…was Mai really that dependent on taking care of Ty Lee? Was it really that integral to her personality that she couldn't live without it?

She remembered telling Azula, that night they talked on the balcony, about how Ty Lee had been her constant, how she couldn't leave her alone.

_Right now, it's kinda nice to be needed._

So who had really been the needy one?

"Why are you telling me this now?" She finally said. "Why is this suddenly coming up? You take me to Prom and all this shit and suddenly you know everything about me – "

Ty Lee just sat quietly, watching the inner struggle play out on Mai's face. She was trying to remember what she had been doing since getting kicked out that had merited the incognito care of Ty Lee…I mean, nothing out of the ordinary, lots of smoking and angst and angry paintings thrown against the wall, sitting on the fire escape and feeling the jagged metal beneath her bare feet as the wind tossed around her nightgown, just tons of smoking, literally nothing she hadn't been doing for eighteen years already…

"Honey," Ty Lee said, "look, I know you've got your way of doing things, and I love you for it, but – "

"_What_ way of doing things? I handle things, that's what I do."

"You _handle_ things? Really? Smoking and not talking about them to anybody is not handling things. You have to face them."

"Like you've faced anything in your life!"

"I haven't _needed_ to, Mai. I'm as spoiled as you are, but unlike you, I'm pretty happy. But I know what I'm fighting for, what I'm fighting against. When Zhao tried to rape me, I kicked him. When Azula needed me, I was there. When it was time to destroy Azulon's mansion, I was there. When Aang needed people to vote for him for Prom, I was there. I know what I'm fighting against. But you…baby, it's like you're fighting against _everything_."

Fucking fucking fucking _fuck_.

She needed a smoke. It was so damn true.

"And I'm telling you because you're going to graduate and we're probs gonna move in together soon. And I want you to know that you don't need to handle things like that anymore. We can be high school Ty Lee and high school Mai as long as we want, but we'll just end up spinning in circles. I don't need to be ditzy and stupid and have everything done for me. And you don't need to bottle up and drown out your emotions and deal with everything by self-imploding. We don't need to do that, because we have each other now. It doesn't have to be one-sided, the two of us alternating who's taking care of who like a seesaw. We can take care of _each other_ now."

It was still too much, all of these words still too foreign. "Ty, is this just some sort of way of dealing with your repressed lesbianism or whatever – I mean, like, is this just cause you _wanted_ me – "

"You really think I did all of that, all of the caring for you, because I wanted in your pants?"

The jaded smile on her face was disturbingly reminiscent of Katara in one of her sultry moods.

"Cause let me tell you, hun, it would have been all too easy for me to get ass – even lesbian ass – without going through the trouble of dealing with your teenage angst bullshit for six months."

God, that tone. Ty Lee sat straight up and stared her down, challenging her.

Mai finally got out – "But what if I don't, like, want to be in a relationship forever – "

"Mai, I don't give a shit if you want to sleep with me or not!" She barked. "This is not about sex! Jeez Louise! You decide you don't want to fuck me anymore, totally cool, I'm down. You decide you don't even want to date me like this, totally fine. This isn't about that. This is about me loving you, in every way a person can, and I want you to be everything you can be with me, I want you to be more than what you are right now, and I want to be there because I fucking _love_ you, and I think I can be everything I can be with you too."

She took a deep breath in the morning air. "And lesbihonest…you weren't exactly protesting last night. So maybe _you're_ the one with repressed lesbianism. Cause I'm pretty sure you could have asked my first grade teacher and she would have told you I'm bisexual. I'm not fucking hiding it. _You're_ the one that nobody could ever figure out."

Mai looked up through her bangs. "But you figured me out?"

It was the first smile from Ty Lee. "I don't know, babe. You're still the same shy, nerdy, black-haired girl reading a book in your dad's garden that day."

Mai smiled fleetingly, looking away at the St. James St sign, burning brighter as the sun rose higher. The thoughts swirled around in her head, trying to process the point she was at in her life and how she'd gotten here, but it stuck out to her that for the first time in her life, someone had told her that they _loved_ her for exactly who she was, for everything about her.

"So you kinda guessed that I was…attracted to you?"

"I guessed right, didn't I?"

Mai gave a short burst of laughter. "Yeah. You did."

Ty Lee smiled as some of the tension left Mai's face. She scooted over beside her, both of their backs against an old, water-stained wooden fence, facing the sun and the world. Mai actually decided that she kind of liked the way the sun felt on her face. God, she needed a shower.

"Ty."

"Yeah?"

She was going to say something, but couldn't. She didn't even know what she'd been about to say. But she liked saying her name out loud.

"Ty Lee."

Ty Lee rolled her head and smiled. "Are you ready to go back?"

"And do what? Grow up?"

"Not necessarily. Nobody said growing up was required. Plenty of people are functioning adults without ever growing up."

"Besides," she added, "I don't really like to say growing up. Maybe…being ready for the next adventure?"

Oh, adventures. Because Mai _loved_ adventures.

To be fair though, the last year of her life had been an adventure. And she'd gotten out of it just fine. Maybe even better than before.

Slowly, feeling her joints crack, she rose up from the underbrush, pulling Ty Lee up with her. She found her ballet slippers from under some leaves and tried to pat her hair down. Taking one last look at the St. James sign, she took Ty Lee's hand and prepared to leave her own little, safe dimension.

"It's gonna be okay," Ty Lee said, seeing the stress on her face.

She smiled. "Never said it wouldn't be."

* * *

**Hello loves! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Didn't turn out the way I'd expected, but I really enjoyed writing this :) New relationships for the win! Life remains crazy on my end, but the end of this fabulous story is within sight, and I'm planning out the last few chapters. Thanks so much for all of your fabulous suggestions! I'll be sure to call you out if I use your idea ;)**

**Speaking of, my lovely Fruipit helped a lot with this chapter (it was even crazier before, if you can believe that), so thanks for your advice dearest!**

**This chapter dedicated to my brand-new betta fish, Calypso! I've never taken care of a pet that's not a tortoise, so fingers crossed I don't kill him ;) With my eternal love - PVB**


	34. Without You

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Without You**

* * *

The ride back to school the next Monday was quieter than I expected. But it was somehow okay. After ten minutes during breakfast where Katara wheedled and begged, Zuko relaxed his strict policies on what was allowed to be played in his Mustang (No Carly Rae Jepsen or Justin Bieber unless an evil dictator with smallpox blankets demanded it), and we listened to chill, punky music on our way in. Toph had worn her hair down voluntarily for the first time ever, and it fell in two thick braids beneath her backwards cap as she snuggled into Sokka. Katara leaned her head out of the open window with her hair streaming like a Taylor Swift music video.

"Why are you all pensive?" I asked, turning around to look at her from shotgun.

"It's how she gets her daily dose of hope," Sokka chimed in. "The Katara species has developed a unique photosynthesis adaption that allows her to convert sunshine into hope that feeds her internal battery, for without adequate hope, the Katara has been known to exhibit grumpiness, a bitchy nature, and proclivity towards fucking small bald creatures – "

Katara punched him with a smile. "Maybe you shouldn't go into design, maybe you should go into narrating shit on the Discovery Channel."

"I'd be fantastic at that!" Sokka said. "Can you imagine? 'This is Sokka Hatori with the Discovery Channel, and today we're going to watch rhinoceroses fucking – well, it looks like the male's about to penetrate the female – he doesn't seem to be able to mount her adequately – '"

"Oh, wow, who knew we were talking about Sokka's sex life?" Toph said.

We all started screaming with laughter. Zuko almost forgot the turn-in to the school. Sokka, his face on fire, turned to Toph, who grinned smugly.

"Oh, yeah, because _you_ didn't seem to be enjoying yourself," he hissed.

"Never said I didn't enjoy it," she replied. "But someone needed to put you back in your place."

"Thanks, homegirl," Katara said with a chuckle.

"Anytime," Toph said, grinning as she slipped her hand into Sokka's and let the animosity fade.

"So are you sad or what?" I asked Katara.

"Oh, no, I was just kinda thinking," she said as we pulled into the parking lot. For a minute we idled as we looked around at the view of the school.

Somehow, everything had been shifted. The school looked the same in the spring light – same palm trees and ugly buildings. But students laughed and talked and moved freely between the different halls. Kids from all the different nations talked and laughed, with the Fire kids turning out to not be as big of dicks as everyone thought. Onji and Jin were clearly long-lost besties who were ecstatic to have finally found each other. Azula sat on the curb, eating a Hot Pocket as she smiled at Teo, who was perfectly on her level in his wheelchair, staring at her like he'd never seen a more beautiful woman. Suki, Mai and Ty Lee stood by the lockers chatting as Suki looked over her math homework. Best of all, Mai and Ty Lee occasionally stole a smooch like any brand-new couple in love, and nobody seemed to give a shit.

"Besides," Katara said, "this certainly gives me enough hope to last for a while."

* * *

Unfortunately, the teachers didn't seem to give too much of a shit that I'd won Prom King. The homework was still end-of-finals tough, and all of dragged ourselves to the car today pretty exhausted. Not just Katara and I, but even Toph and Zuko suddenly gave a shit about their grades. Sokka didn't care, cause he was already in college, so he drove us home while Zuko slumped in the backseat.

"Come on, homes," Sokka said cheerily as he drove through afternoon traffic, "the school year is almost over! Then you can take long showers and masturbate all day!"

"Like you won't do the same thing!" Zuko mumbled. Katara rubbed his back in her motherly way.

"Sokka doesn't mean to be mean," she said. "He's just crabby cause next year, he won't be able to masturbate thinking about living with you."

"_Wow_," I said.

"A little sibling tension today?" Toph remarked.

"Not that I'm aware of," Sokka said, looking in the mirror. "Ask the Sugar Queen."

"Ugh, it's just that stuff!" Katara snapped. "I swear to God you say this stuff that is just so condescending sometimes."

"Uh, _I_ came up with Sugar Queen," Toph spoke up.

"But he didn't have to use it!" She said.

"Katara, what's wrong? Is it about this morning?" Sokka said.

"I mean, yeah, kinda, you just always talk about how I'm some sort of preachy crybaby who can't handle life without you, I mean, just cause you're going off to college doesn't mean you can suddenly look down on the rest of us normal people!"

The car got quiet as we turned into our driveway.

"Katara…" he said, "that's not what – "

"Sokka!"

We turned to see Grandpa coming out the front door towards us. He was waving something in his hand.

Sokka parked and turned off the car, and as we got out we could finally hear what he was saying –

"Capital College!"

Air sucked in as all of us hurried over to the door. Grandfather held out a thick envelope to Sokka.

"It just came," he said. The worry and anxiety on his face made it hard to believe he wasn't actually related to Sokka.

We didn't even make it inside. Sokka took the envelope and clumsily tore it open, as Katara hung between still being mad at her brother and wanting desperately for him to not leave her. His fingers shook as he took out several sheets of paper.

There was a moment of pure silence as his blue eyes scanned the page.

"I got in," he said

Zuko, Toph, Grandpa and I screamed and huddled around him as a small smile of joy crossed his rugged face. But in the midst of the yelling and congratulating and Toph kisses, we all noticed an absent voice. Sokka turned to see Katara still standing there torn, her blue eyes – just like his – wide and filled with tears.

"Katara?" He asked.

She managed a smile. "Oh, Sokka. I am so happy for you. Oh, my God."

"Are you?" he asked.

She blinked a few times and held out her hand for the letter. We all stepped back to let Weird Katara do her thing. She took it and looked over it a few times.

"Did you read the second paragraph?" she asked him.

He nodded.

"What is it?" Zuko asked.

"It's not as much scholarship money," Katara said. "I don't know if we could swing it."

We all fell silent. For the first time, I wondered how in the world the Hatoris were going to afford college in the first place. After Sokka, was the family even going to have enough money left over for Katara?

"Let's talk about it inside," Grandpa said.

We walked inside and fell into our usual afternoon routine – dropped our backpacks and shoes in various rooms, all said hi as Appa and Momo came running out, Toph and Katara changed out of school pants and into sweats as Zuko and I washed our hands and went to the kitchen to do our cooking for the week. Sokka did the same, but then he grabbed his cell phone and vanished into the backyard. Katara and Toph came out of their room and sat in the living room in stony silence.

"What's wrong with Katara?" Zuko whispered as he got out the vegetables.

"No idea," I replied. "Maybe it's her period?"

"I thought she would happy, this means he doesn't have to leave her to go to the Water District."

"Boys," Grandpa said, coming in with the tortillas we would use to make enchiladas, "the sibling relationship is very complicated. You wouldn't know this, Aang, but I think Zuko can attest that the parting of a sibling is mixed with lots of confusing emotions."

Zuko nodded, but I didn't understand. "But Katara _loves_ Sokka – "

"I never said she didn't," Grandpa said. "It may be her love that's making this so hard."

I looked at Grandpa for more explanation, but he just smiled and ambled off to his study. Zuko shrugged, his hair flopping over his scar, and heated up the stove. I peeked my head out to see what was going on in the living room. Katara and Toph, always such polar opposites, sat side by side on the couch. Toph rubbed Katara's back as she leaned forward, stonily staring out in the backyard with the eyes of a girl who'd grown up way too fast.

Eventually Sokka got off the phone and came inside. We heard the creak of the screen door and his footsteps as he went to the living room. I was about to go sit in the living room, but Zuko held me back with a spatula.

"What did Dad say?" Katara asked.

"He's proud of me," he replied with a smile. Zuko and I eavesdropped from the kitchen doorway. "It's pretty exciting to actually have a choice, you know?"

Katara nodded, her smile strange and twisted. Even Toph, who couldn't see it, frowned at Katara's body language.

We couldn't see Sokka's face, but he rested one foot on his knee as he sighed. "Katara, what's up?"

"Nothing's up. I'm fine."

"Hardly. If you don't want me to go to Capital College, just tell me."

"I want you to go wherever you want to go."

"So why are you acting like this?"

Katara's eyes shifted as her chest rose and fell rapidly.

"I thought you didn't want me to go back to the District," he said softly. "I thought you wanted me to stay here with you."

"I don't need you to take care of me," she said.

"I never said that! I just – "

"It's fine if you go back to the District. Gran-Gran probably needs you to be there. You can represent the South at that hoity-toity psycho school. You'll make the family name proud."

"What are you _talking_ about? Dad is proud, he doesn't need me to 'represent our district' or whatever you're saying, I can – "

"Yes, of course Dad's proud of you! And College de Aqua is a fantastic school, everyone knows that! So you should go back to the District and keep our legacy going strong there – "

"Katara, the _fuck_?" He cried. "Do you seriously think that you're not making the family name proud or something?"

Zuko and I looked at each other. Was that it?

Katara still wouldn't look at him. "No, I think I'm doing a good job of upholding the family name. I won Prom Queen and I fucked up Azulon's mansion and put Mom's name on the lawn, that's pretty Water District, don't you think? But I just don't really…know what to…like, where we should be."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he admitted.

"I don't know if I'm going to stay in the Capital or go back to the District, I don't even know what the hell I want to major in, and I'm not sure if they need me more here or there, and anywhere you go the Hatori name is going to follow, and I'm going to want to be with you so we can do it together, but I'm _just so confused_…"

So were the rest of us. Every member of the house kind of sat and tried to decipher what she was saying, but at least Toph had the wherewithal to keep rubbing her back as Sokka sat there with his mouth open.

"Kat," he said, "are you really basing deep existential questions of what you're going to do with your life on where I'm going to _college_?"

"Well, what the hell else am I supposed to do?" She said, her voice breaking. "You're pretty much all I've known, my whole life, it's just been the two of us. And I know you have to leave, so a part of me really wants you to stay with me so we can be together, but another part of me really wants you to leave so that I can finally be my own person, but what if you need me later? And what if I decide to go to the District with you and I hate it, or vice versa, but we need to enact change – "

Toph gave a snort of laughter. Katara turned to her with a glare, tears sparkling in her eyes, but Sokka was finally smiling too. He walked over to sit beside her on the couch and wrapped an arm around her.

"Kitty Kat, listen to me," he said. "Life isn't determined by where you go to college. Dad went to College de Aqua and kind of hated it. You don't always stay where you end up going to college. I could end up anywhere, it's a big fucking world. I'm _never_ going to forget you, not ever. Even if I go to the District, we're gonna stay in touch and I'll come down to see you all the time, okay? I'll come see you and keep kicking Aang's ass."

I had to stifle my laughter from the kitchen so Sokka couldn't tell we were listening in.

"And if I go to Capital, I won't be living here, so you'll get the space you want. I'll get a dorm on campus, not too far away, so you can see me whenever you need me, okay?"

Katara resisted for a few more moments, still holding her body tense. Eventually she gave up and relaxed as she leaned into Sokka. He smiled as he stroked her hair, letting her relax. Toph pulled her arm back and leaned against the back of the couch with a smile.

"So where do you want me to go?" He asked.

Katara closed her eyes against his shirt. "I don't know. Wherever you want to go. What do you want?"

He continued stroking her hair, but his eyes shifted to his girlfriend, sitting beside Katara. Toph still had her smile. He reached out one hand to touch her, and she jerked her head to him.

"I don't really think I'm ready to completely leave you guys," he replied.

Toph burst out in a grin, and Katara just nuzzled deeper. Sokka looked up and said,

"What do you guys think? Aang, Zuko, Grandpa?"

We froze.

"I know you're there, idiots."

Grandpa? Zuko and I poked our heads out to see Grandpa poke his head out too, smiling sheepishly from the hallway leading to his room.

"Grandpa?" Katara said, raising her head.

"He's been there since the beginning," Toph supplied.

"Cheater!" I said, pointing my finger. "You always give me these spiels about giving people personal space!"

"I had to know!" He defended.

Sokka laughed. "Well, I'll call Dad and see what I can do for scholarships. Maybe there's some way we can pull it together."

"You still have to leave," Zuko said.

"Yeah, that's life! It's time for me to go to college and make terrible life decisions and drink lots of tequila and take my shirt off at parties to the delight of my peers."

"Ex_cuse_ me," Toph said.

"But that's okay!" Sokka continued. "That's growing up! You and Kat are gonna go next year, and then Aang and Toph after that, cause that's how this shit works. I'm happy to get out of high school, Jesus! As if we haven't had enough drama this year!"

I had to admit that the family had had enough drama to last a lifetime in these past nine months.

Seeing that we all were still freaking out about him moving out, Sokka said with a smile,

"It's not like I'm leaving tomorrow, guys. We've still got summer, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Katara said, finally sitting up on her own. Sokka rustled her messy hair, which made her bat him away with a smile. He looked around at all of our smiling faces and said,

"So did any of you actually make enchiladas or were you just eavesdropping the whole damn time?"

* * *

Finals slowly crept up, and we spent our time in the living room studying while Sokka played Mario Kart and distracted us. It was a sign of the times that the studying was mostly silent, even for our crazy talkative group. Katara curled up under a blanket and read like her life depended on it. Zuko set up shop on the coffee table and did his calculations with a serious face. Even Toph was getting into it, sitting on the floor with her back against the couch and her knees up, headphones in and her fingers passing through her Braille books almost as quickly as Katara. I generally stayed quiet too, but I liked at least some noise, so sometimes I went in my room and played my music and played with Momo when I couldn't study anymore.

I was in my room when I got the call. It was a number I didn't recognize.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Aang."

I froze, feeling like a piece of ice had just slid down my spine.

"Ozai?" I whispered, not wanting to freak my roommates out. "How are you – how did you – "

"They have phones in jail," he replied. "And as for your number, I still have connections."

"I don't know what the fuck you're planning, but I'm not going to – "

"Aren't you tired of foiling me at every turn?"

Momo watched me intently. "Yes," I replied. "I'm exhausted."

"Well, you can rest easy," Ozai said. "I'm tired too."

We both fell quiet. I clutched so tight to the phone that my knuckles were turning white.

"Ozai – "

"How is Zuko?"

"Zuko? He's fine, he's happy. He's got a girlfriend, he's gonna do well on his APs. He and Azula are close again. What are you going to do to – "

"Shut up, kid. I'm not going to do anything to him. It'll take at least a few months before my father manages to get me released from here. Azula is going back to the District?"

"Yes, she's going to study criminal justice at Kai University."

He exhaled. The conversation felt like it was taking place on a different plane of reality.

"And what about you, O Mighty Prom King? What will you be doing with your life?"

"What? I'm only fifteen, almost sixteen, I don't know what the hell I'm doing – "

"Do you plan to rebuild your lost civilization? Fight for justice and all that?"

"I don't _know_, I don't know why you're asking – "

"The Fire District won't rest," Ozai said. "Zhao and I may be defeated. After this, I highly doubt my father will trust me with any missions again. But we have the generation before you, the generation after you. What can one teenager do against the government of the Fire Distrct?"

I cast my eyes to the pictures on my desk, the same pictures that adorned the mantle of the house. Snapshots of the year grinned out at me from ceramic frames – a quick picture of Sokka, Katara and I before raiding the Beifong's party, all of us grinning and laughing; Katara rolling her eyes as Sokka and Toph slammed on the guitars; an adorable picture from Christmas that Grandpa took, as Toph and I sat in our PJ's, Toph holding her new guitar with a giant smile and me giving the thumbs up as we were surrounded by wrapping paper like little kids. There was a picture of Zuko and Sokka throwing the Frisbee as Appa jumped up, and one of the whole group by Mai's Range Rover as a blushing, smiling Katara proudly displayed her Prom asking cake. And right next to the Homecoming picture was the newest Prom picture – not the super fancy one from the actual event, which turned out unbearably awkward because Sokka had to go to the bathroom and Toph's dress itched and not even Suki could get Zuko to smile in a formal picture. This was the picture we'd taken here before leaving, with the Mai and Ty Lee looking adorably in love and Toph with her tongue out and Katara snuggled up in me.

In those pictures, there were Fire District kids. Kids who had started out my enemies, but had become some of my best friends.

"What if the Fire District has a new government?" I finally said.

Ozai paused. "That's what I'm worried about," he said.

* * *

Sunday morning, and Suki drove over to Grandpa's house. Zuko grinned and gave her a kiss, and she shared breakfast with the gang before she and Zuko went on a walk. Suki never felt the need to fill the silence with awkward and forced conversation, which was so incredibly refreshing. Mai had never talked, but he felt it was more out of awkwardness and perpetual animosity than anything. He and Suki walked hand in hand around the neighborhood as the bright morning light fell upon them. They talked a bit, mostly about nothing, but he just liked the way that her hair shined copper-red in the sun, and the way that her skin glowed even without any of her makeup on.

They came back to the house, where everyone was in various states of chilling. Zuko made them a pot of tea, and they trucked out back to the cistern. They pulled back the tarp and dipped their feet into the cool water. There was always something so calming to him about putting his feet in the water. It reminded him of the pond at his old home, where he used to sit with his mom before she died.

Suki sipped her tea and churned her ankles in the water. "How's studying going?"

"I really need a break, more than anything. Can't wait for it all to be over."

"Are you going to go back to your dad's for the summer?"

He shook his head. "Don't think I can."

She reached out her hand to hold his, her fingers small and calloused.

"What are you doing for the summer?"

"I don't know. I'd like to go back to Gaolin. See if I can't get my parents another hearing, maybe try to get them out. I don't have any family left, but I have a few friends I can stay with. I want to see what I can do for my village."

Zuko squeezed back on her hand.

"But you'll come down and visit?"

"…Yeah. Whenever I can."

The way that she said it made him turn. She had her honey-brown eyes cast on the water.

"Something wrong, hun?"

She took a deep breath and then turned to him, setting the teacup down. "Listen, babe…"

Oh God, he did not like where this was going.

"Do you want to continue this when I go to college?"

"What kind of a question is that?"

But she looked at him with sad eyes, and he took another minute.

"I mean, yeah, why wouldn't I? This relationship is awesome, I love being with you, I love the way I feel when I'm with you…"

"I know, hun, and don't get me wrong. This is the best relationship I've ever been in. I love you so much."

What the hell was she saying? Zuko's heart throbbed painfully in his chest.

"And it's not that I want to break up, cause I don't. But I just think that…my heart is going to be somewhere else once I move away. You understand, don't you?"

He shook his head numbly. Suki turned completely towards him, taking both his hands in hers.

"I know we're from different places and different situations, but we're a lot alike, and I think that's why we were work so well together. So I'm asking you to understand when I say that…I have a duty back home. I have loved being here in the capital so much, my God, it's been amazing. But this isn't real, I think you know that. All of us being best friends, no matter where we're from. That's not how this world works outside of high school."

"But it can be," Zuko protested.

"I know," she soothed. "That's what I want. That's what I'm going to work for. Yes, my martial arts scholarship is awesome. But I want to go back to the Earth District so we can rebuild, and more importantly, so that I can help heal the wounds that the Fire District has left on us. When I first got to Four Nations, you couldn't have _paid_ me to be friendly to someone from your District, much less date one. But now I know better, and I want to go back home and try to convince them to wait for new leadership, wait for the time when we can have negotiations, try to get them to be open to talking to the Fire District instead of holing up and attacking like we do."

"But, Suki, that's not – "

"It's what you have to do too, don't you see? We both have to go back home and take what we learned here, this year, and _do_ something about it. Our parents aren't going to do anything, and it's up to us. You're gonna go back to the Fire District and be the new leadership that everyone needs, and I'll do whatever I can to help Gaolin and my whole nation, and I'm not-so-secretly hoping that one day we'll meet up again when you have the power to free my parents, when all of this is done."

Zuko just felt so tired, his shoulders slumped. God, so much fucking pressure…and just when he was thinking that Suki could be his rock during all of this.

But she smiled. "Hey now, don't fucking frown. You've got a year left of high school, no one's expecting you to save the world yet."

"Don't really see why anyone's expecting me to save the world in the first place," he grunted.

"I know, hun, it sucks. Straight up. That is too much pressure on anyone. But honestly, is there anyone else you want to do with your life? Wouldn't this bring you peace, to know that you stopped the war that killed your mother and wrecked your sister?"

He thought of his mother's grave, the white marble shrine erected for her in their backyard that his father never went to.

"That's pretty much all I want to do," he said.

She smiled and took another sip of tea. He'd completely forgotten that his feet were still in the water, and he splished them around.

"Trust me Zu, this isn't what I want to do," she said, her voice bitter. "If I could stay with you forever, I would. It's not like either of us need any more heartbreak. But I've been thinking about this for a while, and I don't really think…I can be what you need me to be. And you can't be what I need. I need to go to the Earth District and take care of my shit."

"That's not your job."

"It's not your job to reform the Fire District either, but who else besides us is going to do it? Who else besides us and our friends are going to do it?"

He felt complete and utter frustration rising up in his throat, because frankly, she was right. He understood, because that was what he had to do. He had to leave all the people he loved so that this year wouldn't have been in vain.

"It's shit," he finally said. "I know I have to do it, but it's shit. It's such bullshit that this falls on our shoulders and there's nothing we can do about it."

She nodded, her warrior muscles tensed up.

"But we have to. I know we have to."

Suki turned to him with a sad smile.

"Yeah, we do," she said. "That's called growing up."

* * *

**Hello my dears! Sad face end of chapter :( Now before you flame me, you all know as well as I do that not every couple that gets together in high school stays together forever. How many of _you _are still with the person you took to prom? (I'm not, but my date was gay, so it's kind of expected). Anyway, next chapter we're gonna continue to look at the non-Kataang relationships and see where they're headed before heading back to Kataang. I've got the chapters all planned out, which is heartbreaking. My shrink says I may be taking so long to update because I'm in denial about this story ending haha.**

**This chapter is dedicated to super-fan Jessa, who named her cat after me, which is a first in my fanfic career. What does the cat look like? I hope it's not some fugly cat who shits everywhere and hisses at strangers. The irony of this is that I'm allergic to cats, but if I ever got the chance to meet the cat who's named after me (Pegelia, right? I certainly hope you don't know my real name...), I would snuggle the shit out of that little fluffy thing. Thanks for the dedication, girl!**

**If nothing else, review because my fish Calypso is still alive! Woot woot! Love you all - PVB**


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